Abstract

Common sense regards memory as fairly exact, reliable and trustworthy in the majority of cases. However, recent scientific findings in psychology and biology seem to object this point of view. According to them, memory appears as a highly constructive and often deceptive phenomenon. These assumptions lead to various philosophical problems. The talk will briefly outline some of them. At first, some general statements about philosophy and memory research will be made. Second, the relationship between self and (autobiographical) memory is being analyzed. This can be illustrated by case-studies of traumatical disorders, a field which is so far stunningly unnoted in philosophy. Third, some aspects of the relation between memory and truth will be examined.