Abstract
The theory of memory traces and its critics have a long history. From the beginning, long before the first actual characterization of memory traces, memory acquired an ontological status, whether the latter challenged the relevance of traces a priori, or on the contrary legitimized it. Today, the search for memory traces has become a fundamental part of neuroscience. In this context, their significance and their contribution to brain theory is actively debated. The philosophical discussions on the pertinence of research on brain traces continue. For philosophers like David Krell, such debates are like an illusory quest for the Holy Grail (Krell 1990). For others, like John Sutton, there is a healthy continuity between old ideas and contemporary connectionism (Sutton 1998).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bechtel, W. (2001). The Compatibility of Complex Systems and Reduction: A Case Analysis in Memory Research. Minds and Machines, 11, 483–502.
Bickle, J. (1998). Psychoneural Reduction: The New Wave. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Carnap, R. (1928). Der Logische Aufbau der Welt. Berlin: Weltkreis-Verlag; Carnap, R. (1967). The Logical Structure of the World (R. A. George, Trans.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Carnap, R. (1932a). Die physikalische Sprache als Univeralsprache der Wissenschaft. Erkenntnis, 2, 432–465. In M. Black (Ed.) (1934), The Unity of Science. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.
Carnap, R. (1932b). Psychologie in physikalischer Sprache. Erkenntnis, 3, 107–142. In A. J. Ayer (Ed.). (1959), Logical Positivism. New York: The Free Press.
Carnap, R. (1935). Les concepts psychologiques et les concepts physiques sont-ils foncièrement différents? Revue de Synthèse, 10, 43–53.
Colville-Stewart, S. B. (1975). Physico-Chemical Models of the Memory Storage Process: The Historical Role of Arguments from Analogy. University of London, PhD Thesis.
Craver, C. F. & Darden, L. (2001). Discovering Mechanisms in Neurobiology: The Case of Spatial Memory. In P. Machamer, R. Grush, & P. MacLaughlin (Eds), Theory and Method in Neuroscience (pp. 112–137). Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University Press.
Draaisma, D. (2000). Metaphors of Memory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dupont, J.-C. (Ed.). (2005). Histoires de la mémoire. Paris: Vuibert.
Eccles, J. C. (1994). How the Self Controls Its Brain. New York: Springer Verlag.
Feigl, H. (1958). The “Mental” and the “Physical.” In H. Feigl, M. Scriven, & G. Maxwell (Eds), Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science: Concept, Theories and the Mind-Body Problem (Vol. 2, pp. 370–497). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Feigl, H. (1963). Physicalism, Unity of Science and the Foundations of Psychology. In P. A. Schilpp (Ed.), The Philosophy of Rudolph Carnap (pp. 227–267). La Salle, Illinois: Open Court.
Foster, J. K. & M. Jelicic (1999). Memory: Systems, Process, or Function? Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Hardcastle, V. G. (1996). How to Build a Theory in Cognitive Science. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Hartley, D. (1749). Observations on Man, His Frame, His Duty and His Expectations. London: S. Richardson.
Hebb, D. O. (1949). The Organisation of Behavior. New York: J. Wiley.
Hering, E. (1870). Über das Gedächtnis als eine allgemeine Funktion der organ-isierten Materie. Almanach der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 20, 253–278.
Krell, D. F. (1990). Of Memory, Reminiscence and Writing. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Lashley, K. S. (1950). In Search of the Engram. In Society of Experimental Biology Symposium, No. 4: Psychological Mechanisms in Animal Behavior (pp. 454–480). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Locke, D. (1971). Memory. London: Macmillan.
Malcolm, N. (1977). Memory and Mind. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
O’Connor, D. J. & Carr, B. (1982). Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge. Brighton: Harvester.
Russell, B. (1921). The Analysis of Mind. New York: Macmillan.
Ryle, G. (1949). The Concept of Mind. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Sanders, J. T. (1985). Experience, Memory and Intelligence. The Monist, 68, 507–521.
Schaffner, K. (1999). Philosophy of Medicine. In M. Salmon, J. Earman & C. Glymour (Eds), Introduction to the Philosophy of Science (pp. 310–345). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.
Semon, R. (1904). Die Mneme als erhltendes Prinzip im Wechsel des organischen Geschehens. Leipzig: W. Engelmann.
Smart, J. J. C. (1970). Sensations and Brain Processes. In C. V. Borst (Ed.), The Mind/Brain Identity Theory (pp. 52–66). London: Macmillan.
Sporns, O. (2012). Discovering the Human Connectome. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Stern, D. G. (1991). Models of Memory: Wittgenstein and Cognitive Science. Philosophical Psychology, 4(2), 203–217.
Sutton, J. (1998). Philosophy and Memory Traces: Descartes to Connectionism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sutton, J. (2012). Memory. In Edward N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2012 edn), http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/ entries/memory/
Watson, J. B. (1930). Behaviorism (2nd edn). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Wilcox, S. & Katz, S. (1981). A Direct Realist Alternative to the Traditional Conception of Memory. Behaviorism, 9, 227–239.
Wittgenstein, L. (2009). Philosophical Investigations (G. E. M. Anscombe, P. S. M. Hacker, and J. Schulte, Trans.). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Wolfe, C. T. (2006). Un matérialisme désincarné: la théorie de l’identité cerveau-esprit. Matière première, 1, 77–100.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2014 Jean-Claude Dupont
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dupont, JC. (2014). Memory Traces between Brain Theory and Philosophy. In: Wolfe, C.T. (eds) Brain Theory. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230369580_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230369580_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-35057-5
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-36958-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave Religion & Philosophy CollectionPhilosophy and Religion (R0)