ABSTRACT
In the history of philosophy, the relationship between memory and imagination has been a matter of debate. This chapter critically surveys the controversy and explores some reasons that have led philosophers to assume that memory and imagination are distinct. It offers a historical overview of the main views concerning the distinction between memory and imagination. The chapter suggests that much of the philosophical discussion surrounding the nature of this distinction obfuscates at least three different senses in which memory and imagination could differ. One sense concerns the difference between mental events that should be considered memories versus those that should be considered imaginations. A second sense concerns the nature of the relationship between the mental faculties or systems of memory and imagination. Finally, a third sense concerns the phenomenology of remembering versus that of imagining. The chapter concludes with a brief overview of some important behavioral and neuroscientific results relevant to this discussion.
