2018 Uehiro Lecture One: Dementia & The Social Scaffold Of Memory
Loss of memory is a central feature of dementia. On a Lockean picture of personal identity, as memory is lost, so is the person. But the initial effect of dementia is not the simple destruction of memory. Many memories can be recognized with suitable prompting and scaffolding, something that thoughtful family and friends will naturally offer. This suggests a problem of access. More radically, if memory itself is a constructive process, it suggests a problem of missing resources for construction – resources which can be provided by others. This applies equally to procedural memories—to the practical skills likewise threatened by dementia. This leads us away from a narrowly Lockean approach: the power to recognize a memory, or exercise a skill, may be as important as the power to recall; and contributions from others may be as important as those from the subject.
Date:
21 May 2018, 16:30
Venue:
Oxford Martin School, 34 Broad Street OX1 3BD
Venue Details:
Lecture Theatre
Speaker:
Prof Richard Holton (University of Cambridge)
Organising department:
Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics
Organiser:
Professor Julian Savulescu (Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics)
Organiser contact email address:
rachel.gaminiratne@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Host:
Professor Julian Savulescu (Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics)
Part of:
Annual Uehiro Lectures
Topics:
Booking required?:
Required
Booking url:
https://bookwhen.com/uehiro
Cost:
Free
Audience:
Public
Editor:
Rachel Gaminiratne
