Memory, Responsibility, and Identity

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Ross Poole Memory, Responsibility, and Identity ONE OF THE TASKS OF MEMORY IS TO MAKE AVAILABLE TO US KNOWLEDGE th at we have acquired in the past. Let us call this aspect of m em ory cognitive memory. This kind of memory clearly plays a crucial role in our life—as becomes apparent on those occasions w hen it lets us down. But by and large, and perhaps surprisingly, m ost of its tim e it does its job and the right piece of inform ation comes to m ind m ore or less w hen we need it. Cognitive m emory has been o f special concern to philosophers, psychologists, and cognitive scientists, who have fruitfully investigated how it works, how and w here the inform ation is stored, and how reli­ able it is. My concern in this paper will be different. There is another aspect of memory that is of equal importance: its role of transm itting responsibilities and com m itm ents from the past. If cognitive m emory tells us what we have learned in the past in order that we may better pursue our curren

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