Phantom. We give the name phantom to all the images that make us imagine corporeal beings outside of ourselves that are not there. These images can result from external physical causes, from light, or from the play of shadows, that affect our eyes and present to them figures that are real: thus in this case our error does not consist in seeing a figure outside of ourselves, since in fact there is one, but in taking that figure for the corporeal object that it represents. Objects, noises, particular circumstances, and heightened emotional states can also set our imagination and our organs in motion. These moved and agitated organs, without there being any object present but exactly as if they had been affected by the presence of an object, show it to us though there is in fact no figure outside ourselves. Sometimes the organs stir and become agitated by themselves, as happens during sleep. In this case we see within ourselves a scene composed of objects that are more or less disjointed or connected depending on whether there is more or less irregularity or consistency in the movements of our sensory organs. This is the origin of our dreams. See the articles Senses, Sensation, Dream. The word phantom has been applied to all the false ideas that cause us fright, respect, etc. , that torment us, and that make our lives miserable: it is poor education that produces these phantoms ; it is experience and philosophy that dispel them.