Memory and Mind: An Introduction to Augustine's Epistemology
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MEMORY AND MIND: AN INTRODUCTION TO AUGUSTINE'S EPISTEMOLOGY
1. INTRODUCTION
The central point of this paper is to elucidate Augustine's
notion of memory found in Augustine's *Confessions 10*. The
topic is far too complex to do it justice in an hour. Also, the
Augustinian corpus is vast, so of necessity the talk will involve
some oversimplification and glossing. I focus on several themes
Augustine pursues: the imagistic nature of memory, how knowledge
is sometimes achieved without images, the relationship of memory
to mind, skeptical problems that lead to a Christian
epistemology. Along the way I compare, very briefly,
Augustine's views with those of his philosophical ancestors and
with a recent philosopher of mind.
Throughout *Confessions*, Augustine relies on memory; the
work is an example of the functioning of memory. *Confessions*
can be understood as an epistemologically oriented text.
Knowledge of God is sought, and the ostensible route to this goal
is through self-knowledge. The book opens with its author
seeking God and wondering whether God can be sought if God is not
already known. The answer to this initial and central question
of how a mere human can know God lies in memory. That is,
Augustine will find God (and himself), and the answers to all of
his questions, and the font and guarantee of all knowledge by
turning inward and reflecting on his own memory. He writes:
Great is the power of memory, an awe-inspiring mystery,
my God, a power of profound and infinite multiplicity.
. . . So great is the power of memory, so great is the
force of life in a human being whose life is mortal
(*Conf. *10.17.26).
Or similarly:
The power of memory is great, very great, my God. It
is a vast and infinite profundity. Who has plumbed its
bottom? This power is that of my mind and is a natural
endowment, but I myself cannot grasp the totality of
what I am (*Conf. *10.8.15).
Leaving aside Augustine's rhetoric of self-effacement and
intentional irony, it is patent that he knows a great deal about
memory and its power.
The faculty of memory in Augustine's broad usage is more
than just the ability to remember or the act of remembering. It
encompasses all cognitive capacities. Memory is the
repository of all of a person's experiences and knowledge.
Memory includes sensations and perceptions, imaginations and
dreams, hopes and fears, emotions and awareness of self.
Memory is the locus of personal identity. Owing to the
transience and mutability of the present, memory is the focal
point of any sense of continuity experienced. Through memory the
past and future both become present. Knowledge resides in
memory. In short, memory is mind.
In his early writings, where his interest is more like what
we today consider purely philosophical, Augustine discourses on
the nature of memory, its role