Overview

In epistemology, memory is the faculty of the mind by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. The philosophical questions concern whether memory is a distinct source of knowledge (like perception) or merely a way of preserving knowledge acquired in the past.

Core Idea

The core idea is that memory is our link to the past. Without it, we would be trapped in the immediate present, unable to learn or form a coherent identity.

Formal Definition

Epistemologically, memory is often divided into:

  1. Preservative Memory: It preserves the justification a belief had when it was formed.
  2. Generative Memory: It can generate new justification (e.g., by re-evaluating past events).

Intuition

You remember that you had coffee this morning. How do you know? You can’t see the coffee now. You rely on a mental image or feeling of “pastness.” But how do you know that feeling is reliable?

Examples

  • Semantic Memory: Remembering facts (e.g., “Paris is the capital of France”).
  • Episodic Memory: Remembering personal experiences (e.g., “I visited Paris in 2010”).
  • Procedural Memory: Remembering how to do things (e.g., riding a bike), though this is less central to propositional knowledge.

Common Misconceptions

  • Misconception: Memory is like a video recording that we just play back.
    • Correction: Research shows memory is reconstructive. We rebuild memories every time we access them, often incorporating new information or errors.
  • Misconception: If I remember it clearly, it must have happened.
    • Correction: “Flashbulb memories” (vivid memories of emotional events) can be highly inaccurate despite their clarity.
  • The Problem of Forgotten Evidence: If you remember a fact (e.g., “The Battle of Hastings was in 1066”) but have forgotten where you learned it, are you still justified in believing it?
  • Skepticism about the Past: Bertrand Russell’s hypothesis that the world could have come into existence five minutes ago with all our “memories” already implanted.

Applications

  • Eyewitness Testimony: Understanding the fallibility of memory is crucial in criminal justice.
  • History: Historical knowledge relies on the collective memory of society (records, oral traditions).

Criticism and Limitations

  • Constructive Nature: Since memory is reconstructive, it is prone to distortion, suggestion, and false memories.
  • Circular Justification: We use memory to justify the reliability of memory (e.g., “Memory has worked in the past”), which is circular.

Further Reading

  • Memory: A Philosophical Study by Sven Bernecker
  • The Psychology of Memory by Alan Baddeley
  • Epistemology of Memory (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)