Welcome to the Memory Palace!

Introducing a new initiative for sharing scholarly work in and around the philosophy of memory

A memory palace is a lavish, expansive space where the capacity to remember is celebrated.

Artwork by Becky Moon

Memory palaces are venues for the method of loci: a mnemonic technique where items to-be-remembered are depicted as images and then placed strategically within a larger mental image of a well-known place or route. Used in this way, memory palaces have been vital tools for many oral cultures. They may have helped Homer compose and perform the Iliad and Odyssey (Minchin 2001) and their extensive use by Roman rhetoricians is well documented (Yates 1966). Lynne Kelly (2016) has surveyed a wide range of palace-like mnemonic strategies adopted across oral cultures throughout history, including Aboriginal Australians and Meso-American tribes in North America.

Memory palaces are tribute to the capacity of the human mind.

While mnemonic techniques arose from the needs of oral cultures, they were used most extensively in medieval Europe—the technique not only stuck around for centuries after books were widely available, but flourished. Mary Carruthers (2008) argues that this is because a well-constructed memory was viewed as essential architecture for an educated and virtuous mind—mental scaffolding through which one could acquire, organize, and retain the information needed to live a full and meaningful life.

A well-cultivated memory was a celebration of the mind at its fullest, quite literally.

Echoes of this idea can be found in the various contemporary contexts where memory-based competitions arise. In such spaces, people use memory palaces to support the retention of large amounts of information regarding a topic of communal interest: from scripture, to sports statistics, to digits of pi, to rap lyrics. There is even the World Memory Championships where the competition celebrates the capacity itself.

Historically, training in mnemonic techniques was restricted to those who could afford it. The association of memory palaces with the well-educated could lead to the impression that their mastery requires high intelligence or innate skill. However, mnemonology—the study of mnemonics in contemporary psychology—paints a more egalitarian picture (Worthen & Hunt 2011). Mnemonics confer a near universal benefit to the capacity to remember across those who use them. Mnemonists who win competitions do not differ substantially from the rest of us in terms of intelligence or ability, only in the time they have spent training their memory.

Memory palaces offer a novel route through which to explore how the mind operates and where its limits might be.

Even with this rich history, a focus on memory may seem curious in the present moment. We are not subject to the limited means of information storage that challenged oral cultures. Memory’s reign as the most prized intellectual capacity has ended.

And yet.

Memory palaces are not mere repositories; they are opportunities for curation. While we now enjoy seemingly endless ways to store information, we also have more information to hand than could ever be used. What’s worth holding onto? What matters? Memory palaces encourage us to ask these questions, to select and preserve the meaningful.

As a cognitive capacity, memory has been dethroned. Imagination wears the crown. Carruthers (2008) and others have argued that the capacity to generate novel ideas and associations is currently the most closely most tied to genius and intellect. Information retention should be left to the machines, freeing us up for creative work. Only now, the supremacy of imagination is under threat from the rapid ascent of new AI. Pressed to re-examine our value and distinctiveness, memory may be worth a closer look.

Palaces are also good places to throw a party—you are invited to join us here at The Memory Palace for a celebration of the philosophy of memory.

Memory is a perennial topic in philosophy, but it is only in the last decade or two that it has emerged as a focal point of inquiry in contemporary scholarship. The reflections above were meant to situate and suggest the significance of this turn. Philosophy of memory has brought together philosophers of mind, epistemology, science, history, aesthetics, ethics, and more. The Memory Palace aims to provide a showcase of this work, from philosophers investigating a range of topics, at various career stages and places in the world. Our plan is for regular, weekly posts, with a brief pause each summer and winter to catch our breath. The first series beings next week, with a post from John Sutton, and continues through early July. We will wrap up with reports on Issues in Philosophy of Memory IV, the biannual philosophy of memory conference, organized by Andre Sant’Anna, Fabrice Teroni, and Andrea Rivadulla Duró at the University of Geneva.

The Memory Palace is managed by Sarah Robins (me) and Marta Caravà. The stunning artwork you see on The Memory Palace was created specifically for us by the philosopher and artist Becky Moon. In an upcoming post, we’ll share an interview with Becky about her inspiration for these works and her art more generally. Stay tuned!

Artwork by Becky Moon

In crafting The Memory Palace, we were inspired by a range of similar initiatives in other areas of philosophy: The Junkyard, Aesthetics for Birds, Imperfect Cognitions, Pea Soup, etc. In opting to host The Memory Palace on Substack, we are trying something new. Thanks in advance for your patience as we figure out the platform. We are grateful to all of those who encouraged us and offered advice, especially Amy Kind. We encourage you to subscribe, email us at philmempalace@gmail.com with ideas for topics or to volunteer, and to follow us on facebook, twitter, and bluesky.

Sarah Robins is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Purdue University.

Kelly, L. 2016. Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Minchin, E. 2001. Homer and the Resources of Memory: Some Applications of Cognitive Theory to the Iliad and the Odyssey. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Worthen, J. B. and R. R. Hunt. 2011. Mnemonology: Mnemonics for the 21st Century. New York: Taylor & Francis Group, Psychology Press.

Yates, F. 1966. The Art of Memory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.