Episodic memory has been analyzed in a number of different ways in both philosophy and psychology, and most controversy has centered on its self-referential,autonoeticcharacter. Here, we offer a comprehensive characterization of episodic memory in representational terms and propose a novel functional account on this basis. We argue that episodic memory should be understood as a distinctive epistemic attitude taken toward an event simulation. In this view, episodic memory has a metarepresentational format and should not be equated with beliefs about the past. Instead, empirical findings suggest that the contents of human episodic memory are often constructed in the service of the explicit justification of such beliefs. Existing accounts of episodic memory function that have focused on explaining its constructive character through its role in future-oriented mental time travel do justice neither to its capacity to ground veridical beliefs about the past nor to its representational format. We provide an account of the metarepresentational structure of episodic memory in terms of its role in communicative interaction. The generative nature of recollection allows us to represent and communicate the reasons why we hold certain beliefs about the past. In this process, autonoesis corresponds to the capacity to determine when and how to assert epistemic authority in making claims about the past. A domain where such claims are indispensable are human social engagements. Such engagements commonly require the justification of entitlements and obligations, which is often possible only by explicit reference to specific past events.

中文翻译：

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我们为什么记得？情景记忆的交际功能


在哲学和心理学中，情景记忆已经以多种不同的方式进行了分析，大多数争议都集中在它的自我参照上，自知的特点。在这里，我们用表征术语对情景记忆进行了全面的描述，并在此基础上提出了一种新颖的功能解释。我们认为情景记忆应该被理解为对事件模拟采取的独特的认知态度。按照这种观点，情景记忆具有元表征格式，不应等同于对过去的信念。相反，实证研究结果表明，人类情景记忆的内容通常是为了明确证明此类信念而构建的。现有的情景记忆功能的解释侧重于通过其在面向未来的心理时间旅行中的作用来解释其建设性特征，既没有公正地评价其为过去的真实信念奠定基础的能力，也没有公正地评价其表征形式。我们根据情景记忆在交流互动中的作用来解释其元表征结构。回忆的生成性使我们能够表达和传达我们对过去持有某些信念的原因。在这个过程中，自主判断相当于确定何时以及如何在对过去做出主张时维护认知权威的能力。这种主张不可或缺的一个领域是人类社会活动。此类约定通常需要证明权利和义务的合理性，而这通常只有通过明确参考过去的具体事件才能实现。