Sunday, April 6th, 2014...10:02 pm
Confessions Book X
Book X Augustine questions what he loves when he loves God, so he searches in his own mind to reach god. Augustine describes memory as a “storehouse.” According to Augustine images are created through the five senses (sight, taste, smell. touch, and hearing) then stored in the memory. The images can then easily be recalled, even if it is not physically there. Augustine talks about skill memories. They are stored in an interior place “that is not actually a place.” The actual skill is stored and not images of the skill because skills do not enter though the five senses. Augustine then talks about ideas. Ideas are a separate type of memory and it is stored the way they are learnt. Augustine also talks about emotional memories. Emotions could be recalled without actually experiencing the emotion again by just thinking about past experiences.
Discussion Questions:
1. Do you think Augustine’s explanation of how memory works is accurate?
2. What does Augustine say about forgetfulness?
2 Comments
April 7th, 2014 at 1:55 pm
I do believe that Augustine explanation on memory was accurate initially. In a sense memory is a “store house” made up of experiences we witness through our sense. However I believe that Augustine went to philosopical with his description of memory being that he didn’t have the scientific means of truly understanding memory process.
April 28th, 2014 at 9:06 pm
in my opinion Augustine’s explanation of how memory works is accurate, i believe that self-consciousness is inside of memory, and human soul comes from it as well, through the power of memory, everything we remembered became meaningful to us. Whether it’s an image, sounds, or what you heard from others, everything becomes imprinted on our mind.
– xianhui xu