Trusting Traumatic Memory: Considerations from Memory Science

Philosophy of Science 90 (5):1060-1068 (2023)
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Abstract

Court cases involving sexual assault and police violence rely heavily on victim testimony. We consider what we call the “Traumatic Untrustworthiness Argument (TUA)” according to which we should be skeptical about victim testimony because people are particularly liable to misremember traumatic events. The TUA is not obviously based in mere distrust of women, people of color, disabled people, poor people, etc. Rather, it seeks to justify skepticism on epistemic and empirical grounds. We consider how the TUA might appeal to the psychology and neuroscience of memory for empirical support. However, we argue that neither support the TUA.

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Author Profiles

Alison Springle
University of Miami
Seth Goldwasser
University of Miami

Citations of this work

Trauma, trust, & competent testimony.Seth Goldwasser & Alison Springle - 2023 - Philosophical Psychology 37 (1):167-195.

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