#554 Felipe De Brigard: Memory, Imagination, and Free Will
RECORDED ON AUGUST 13th 2021.
Dr. Felipe De Brigard is Fuchsberg-Levine Family Associate Professor at Duke University. Most of his research focuses on the way in which memory and imagination interact. So far, he has explored ways in which episodic memory both guides and constrains episodic counterfactual thinking (i.e., thoughts about alternative ways in which past personal events could have occurred), and how this interaction affects the perceived plausibility of imagined counterfactual events. He also explores the differential contribution of episodic and semantic memory in the generation of different kinds of counterfactual simulations, as well as the effect of counterfactual thinking on the memories they derive from. In addition, his research attempts to understand how prior experience helps to constrain the way in which we reconstruct episodic memories. Finally, he is also interested in the role of internal attention during conscious recollection.
In this episode, we talk about philosophy of neuroscience, and the way in which memory and imagination interact. Topics include: episodic and semantic memory; counterfactual thinking; autobiographical memory, and life narratives; the importance of forgetting; if memory is always conscious; what is imagination, its function, and its relationship with memory; and free will and moral responsibility.
Time Links:
Intro
Episodic memory
Counterfactual thinking, and memory reconstruction
The importance of forgetting
Autobiographical memory, and life narratives
Is memory always conscious?
What is imagination?
The relationship between memory and imagination?
Free will
Moral responsibility
The moral self
Follow Dr. De Brigard’s work!
Follow Dr. De Brigard’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3mWndmY
PhilPeople profile: https://bit.ly/3jzk1fP
Twitter handle: @felipedebrigard