ABSTRACT

According to what I shall call the thesis of the presence of self in memory, to be defended in this chapter, a memory can qualify as episodic only if it presents an episode as one the subject formerly encountered. This thesis requires us to revise our conception of the content of episodic memory. The way in which an episode is presented is essential to the content of episodic memory. This has two important implications: First, the content of episodic memory is not independent of the act of remembering. Second, any particular case of episodic remembering must be sufficiently reconstructive for the episode to be recognized as one that the subject formerly encountered.