The social epistemology of scaffolded and collective memory and forgetting

Tanesini, Alessandra ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6250-471X 2025. The social epistemology of scaffolded and collective memory and forgetting. Lackey, Jennifer and McGlynn, Aidan, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Social Epistemology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 659-678. (10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190949945.013.32)

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

This chapter argues that, since human biological memory is adaptive as a collection of knowledge-producing cognitive systems only when it works within favourable socially engineered cognitive niches, its epistemology must always treat remembering as a social process. Relatedly, it also argues that because memory evolved to enhance social functioning, it is particularly vulnerable to manipulation and distortion. It is thus no surprise that memory is a source of political and cultural conflict. In addition to arguing for the two claims above, this chapter offers a survey of the extant social epistemology of memory knowledge and forgetting whilst suggesting that mainstream anglophone epistemology has to some extent failed to engage fully with the epistemic problems raised by the highly constructive nature of memory.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > English, Communication and Philosophy
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISBN:	9780190949945
Last Modified:	02 May 2025 08:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/178020

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item