Since 1987 I've been haunted by an object that doesn't exist.

A small, glass-fronted, wooden box containing 7 objects. A bone from a bird's wing, three circuit boards, a clay sphere, blackened lace, a human wrist bone.

I imagine the arrangement, how it might feel to see it. What memories it might evoke.

It is an evocative object, described by @GreatDismal in Count Zero.

Now, I work with philosophers on evocative objects.

#EvocativeObejcts #philosophy #WilliamGibson #CountZero #Haunted

I wouldn't usually link to info on The Other Place, but I'm really very proud of this new paper.

Published by Memory, Mind, Media (Cambridge University Press) today.

It shows how restoring the physical properties of certain objects can also restore memories associated with those objects.

Full open-access article here: https://t.co/cG1P2TyPK0

https://twitter.com/MMMJournal/status/1638493940746690561

#philosophy #PhilosophyOfMemory #philosophyOfMind #memory #RepairShop #bbc #repair #EvocativeObejcts #media #OpenAccess

A new series of The Repair Shop, on the BBC, starts today.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08l581p

It's full of great old things, amazing craftspeople at work, and personal stories.

Surprisingly, it's also full of philosophy in action.

From watching Repair Shop, me and philosopher Dr Jude McCarroll show how repairing evocative objects also repairs memory.

Open-access paper here:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/memory-mind-and-media/article/repair-shop-of-memory/5262D81EF67DE0CD63EB36841FBA4D79#

#memory #philosophy #PhilosophyOfMemory #RepairShop #EvocativeObejcts #dementia #philosophyOfMind

I enjoy thinking about memory and how it relates to identity.
And I enjoy science fiction.

So I can definitely recommend this paper, by philosophers Chris McCarroll and Richard Heersmink, about memory in Bladerunner 2049.

How can objects be part of our memory, hold pieces of our autobiography, help us know who we are...?

Here's a link to the pdf version:
https://philpapers.org/archive/HEETBM.pdf

#EvocativeObejcts #philosophy #identity #heersmink #bladerunner #bladerunner2049 #memory