How can misremembering be part of memory
Memory assemblages and the content of what is retained
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22370/rhv2025iss28.4848Keywords:
De Brigard, misremembering, pan-mnemism, memory traces, hypothetical thinkingAbstract
Misremembering is a common feature of human experience. De Brigard has proposed a model in which human episodic memory functions as part of a broader cognitive system oriented toward hypothetical processing. As a result, remembering and misremembering serve a similar cognitive function. This model is contrasted with Bensusan’s pan-mnemism—a view that understands memory phenomena as ubiquitous and maintains that any act of retrieval depends not only on what has been retained but also on subsequent additions that shape the content. What is retained is therefore always subject to the influence of new events and thoughts. Pan-mnemism conceives of misremembering not only as fulfilling the same cognitive function as remembering but also as involving genuine episodes of memory. After comparing these two approaches, the paper presents elements of an argument suggesting that memory traces—and, more broadly, any kind of causal ontological intermediaries—are dispensable for both characterizing the function of memory and explaining human episodic (mis)remembering.
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