Bochum-Grenoble Memory Colloquium

Marya Schechtman (University of Illinois)

We’ll always have Paris: Memory, affect, and personal identity.

12.11.2020, 16:15-17:45 CET (UTC+01:00).

Online Lecture via zoom.

Login information:

Zoom:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82970505769?pwd=NGpHL3VHUUg0bktTbnBIT2kxMWVYZz09

• meeting ID: 829 7050 5769
• password: 8rraW0

Abstract:

This paper explores an idea, commonly expressed in everyday life, that memories are “treasures” to be stored away and enjoyed later, cherished possessions, which are “ours forever”. The central task is to understand better what it is that people have in mind when they talk about memories in this way. What kinds of memories are they talking about? Why are they so cherished? I suggest that the relevant memories (1) are of events or life periods that we imbue with significance (2) are likely to involve and evoke powerful affect, and (3) that the value associated with these treasured memories is closely connected to the complicated role they can play in regulating mood and emotion. I argue also that the way in which they influence affect generates an experience of both diachronic continuity and discontinuity and hence of ourselves as continuing, multifaceted beings. Understanding how this is so helps to illuminate the often-suggested connection between memory and personal identity.