Teaching Theory of Knowledge

8. Memory

      Traditionally memory has been regarded not as a source of knowledge but as a channel linking beliefs acquired -- or experiences had -- at one time to their recall at some later time. Most theorists take some causal connection between a memory and the remembered fact or episode to be a necessary condition for remembering. Such connections are standardly thought to require a storage medium or trace in which memories are laid down and preserved for later retrieval. The classical expression of the view can be found in Plato's Theaetetus. A more sophisticated version is defended by Martin and Deutscher (cf. Heil, Malcolm, Squires for criticisms).

      Work on memory has tended to focus either on the character of mnemonic mechanisms (as in the sources mentioned above), or on the role of memory in knowing and in justified believing (see Ginet, Naylor, Pollock). Recently, philosophers inclined in the direction of "naturalized" epistemology have suggested that psychological accounts of memory have much to tell us that is relevant to the epistemological enterprise (see, e.g., Cherniak, Goldman; a survey of recent empirical work in the psychology of memory may be found in Anderson).

Cross Reference

For additional materials on the role of memory in epistemology, see the sample courses in the "Bridge Courses: Epistemology and Psychology" section.

Readings

Anderson, J. R. Cognitive Psychology (2nd ed.). New York: W. H. Freeman and Co., 1985. See especially chapters 6 and 7.

Benjamin, B. S. "Remembering." Mind 65 (1956), 312-31.

Cherniak, C. "Rationality and the Structure of Human Memory." Synthese 57 (1983), 163-86.

Ginet, C. Knowledge, Perception and Memory. Dordrecht: Reidel Publishing Co., 1975.

Goldman, A. I. Epistemology and Cognition. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 1986. See especially chapter 10.

Heil, J. "Traces of Things Past." Philosophy of Science 45 (1978), 60-72.

Lewis, C. I. Analysis of Knowledge and Valuation. La Salle, III.: Open Court, 1946. See especially chapter 11.

Locke, D. Memory. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1971.

Malcolm, N. "Three Lectures on Memory." In Knowledge and Certainty. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1963.

Malcolm, N. Memory and Mind. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1977.

Martin, C. B. and Deutscher, M. "Remembering." Philosophical Review 75 (1966), 161-96.

Naylor, A. "Remembering Without Knowing--Not Without Justification." PhilosonhicalStudies 49 (1986). 295-311.

Pollock, J. L. Knowledge and Justification. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1974. See especially chapter 7.

Squires, R. "Memory Unchained." Philosophical Review 77 (1969), 178-96.