Category: Memory
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The Fallibility of Memory: Chamberlain, Chambers, Communism
The other day I was trying to recall the name of the author of Witness and I came up with Houston Chamberlain. The author, of course, is Whittaker Chambers. The confusion was presumably sired by 'Chamber.' Memory, though infirm, is not wholly unreliable. If it were, I would not have been able to realize my…
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Remembering Bob Koepp
Robert V. Koepp, long-time commenter at this weblog, died on Leap Day, 2012. Here is what I had to say about him in 2012.
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A Mistake of Memory
Top o' the Stack. Presentism questioned.
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A Mistake of Memory
One mistake we sometimes make is to confuse a memory of a decision to do something with a memory of having done it. "I thought I did that! No, my man, you merely thought of doing it." One morning I wasted time searching for an article I had printed out the day before. But I…
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False Memory
Yesterday I intended to print a document, loaded the paper tray, and then got sidetracked by a phone call. I forgot about the print job. This morning I falsely remembered having printed the document and then wasted time searching for it. What philosophical juice might one squeeze from this lemon? 1) Not all memories could…
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Memory: Content and Affect
Substack latest.
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Memory and Existence: An Aporetic Tetrad
Try this foursome on for size: 1) Memory is a source of knowledge. 2) Whatever is known, exists. 3) Memory includes memory of wholly past individuals and events. 4) Whatever exists, is temporally present. The limbs of the tetrad are collectively inconsistent: they cannot all be true. To appreciate the logical inconsistency, note that 'exists'…
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Boethius and the Second Death of Oblivion: Ubi nunc fidelis ossa Fabricii manent?
We die twice. We pass out of life, and then we pass out of memory, the encairnment in oblivion more final than the encairnment in rocks. Boethius puts the following words into the mouth of Philosophia near the end of Book Two of the Consolations of Philosophy. Where are Fabricius's bones, that honourable man? What…
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Too Many Memories?
Are you bothered by too many memories? Live more actively and thoughtlessly! Enter the diaspora of mundane dis-traction. Lose yourself in the quotidian. Take the drug of busy-ness. Not my way, but it could be yours.
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Memory: Content and Affect
The trick is to retain the content so that one can rehearse it if one wishes, but without re-enacting the affect, unless one wishes. Let me explain. Suppose one recalls a long-past insult to oneself, and feels anger in the present as a result. The anger is followed by regret at not having responded in…
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The Purgatory of Memory
Vexing memories are an earthly purgatory which the purgation of memory, if it could be achieved, would eliminate.
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Memorial Relaxation
It is better to relax one's grip on the past than to let it go entirely.
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Remembering Bob Koepp
Robert V. Koepp, long-time commenter at this weblog, died on Leap Day, 2012. Here is what I had to say about him in 2012.
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Memory Anchors
Journal entries can serve to anchor memories. Memories anchored are less likely to be embellished or suppressed. "I couldn't have done that!" "But it says right here that you did, and you wrote it!"