: Is it illegal to use a real person as a character in your story? I'm writing a story where my character meets some of the world's greatest philosophers in a dream. He meets Franz Kafka, Dostoevsky,

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This is common in fiction, especially with long-dead public figures. There are whole books that have been peopled largely by repurposed historical figures.

I'm not a lawyer, but as far as I know, you're only in legal jeopardy if you're depicting living or recently deceased people. Even then, it's really only if you're depicting them in a way that is defamatory and untrue.

Personally, as a reader, I tend not to like it seeing historical figures used in fiction --it breaks my suspension of disbelief. However, I think putting it in a dream setting makes it much more palatable. We all dream about well-known people from time to time, and there's no expectation that their dream versions match the real life counterpart.

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People have done this before in fiction (Midnight in Paris, for example), so I highly doubt it's illegal.
Of course, it never hurts to ask for permission if you have any idea who to ask.

I believe I read somewhere that you should be very careful about the way you portray a well-known person, but in your case, I wouldn't be too worried - Especially since it's in a dream, and most people know that dreams are not to be trusted 100% - unless, of course, you establish otherwise.

If you present them in a way that matches their legacy or people's understanding of them, I highly doubt anyone would mind.

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