Memory from a pragmatic point of view: intersections of Merleau-Ponty and Francisco Varela

Abstract

Based on a pragmatic conception of memory as doing without representing, this paper looks into the intersection between Merleau-Ponty and Varela in which the notion of bodily condition assumes a distinctive function. The idea is that memory depends on the bodily condition as a whole and, therefore, has nothing to do with representation. The purpose of the paper can be summarized in the following terms: for an organism, pragmatically, it is vital to know how to do things with its memories more than to take them to be internal representations of the world.