Reference and Remembering

Episodic memory enables us to consciously ‘relive’ experienced events from our past. You might remember making coffee this morning and sensorily recall what it was like to hear the kettle reach a boil or to smell the coffee grounds. Success in this activity requires that there be a certain relationship between your present act of remembering and the past event in question. First, something must ‘fix’ or determine that your memory is about that particular event, rather than, say, a similar event the previous morning. Second, the memory must be suitably accurate. By analogy, success in uttering ‘This is blue’ requires, for its evaluability, that ‘This’ refers to a particular object and, for its truth, that the predicate accurately characterises the referred-to object. Though these observations are simple, what we might call the reference-fixing and accuracy conditions of episodic remembering remain obscure. The thriving work on memory in philosophy and the sciences strongly suggests that continued progress requires more attention—and new approaches—to these matters. Since this requires expertise in both memory and in reference and singular thought, new conversations must be started. The principal aim of the proposed topical collection is to prompt such conversations about the complex and multi-faceted relationship between reference, singular thought, and remembering by bringing researchers specializing on these topics within one forum for the first time.

We hereby invite contributions for the Synthese topical collection, ‘Reference and Remembering’. Potential topics for contributions include but are not limited to:

- How the subject matter or reference of episodic memories is determined

- Memory and mental files

- Memory and singular thought

- Memory demonstratives

- Event segmentation and the individuation of events in episodic memory

- Memory and immunity to error through misidentification

- The intentional objects of remembering

- Remembering (the objects of) hallucination/dreams

- Accuracy conditions in episodic remembering

- Reference and the semantics of memory reports

The deadline for manuscript submissions is October 1st, 2023. Only original articles will be considered. Acceptance of all submissions requires positive evaluation from two reviewers. Word limits and other guidance conform to the journal’s general policies.

Submissions are to be made via: editorialmanager.

For further information, please contact the lead guest editor,James Openshaw