Chapter XX.—Concerning Memory.

The faculty of memory is the cause435    Text, αἴτιον. R. 2930, ἀγγεῖον. and storehouse of remembrance and recollection. For memory is a fantasy436    φαντασία. that is left behind of some sensation and thought437    καὶ νοήσεως is wanting in some mss., nor is it found in Nemesius, who borrowed his description from Origen. manifesting itself in action; or the preservation438    Text, σωτηρία. Variant, σωρεία, a heaping up, “coacervatio.” Faber has “confirmatio,” which is nearer σωτηρία, conservatio, which is found in Nemesius, &c. of a sensation and thought439    Nemes., ch. 13.. For the soul comprehends objects of sense through the organs of sense, that is to say, it perceives, and thence arises a notion: and similarly it comprehends the objects of thought through the mind, and thence arises a thought. It is then the preservation of the types of these notions and thoughts that is spoken of as memory.

Further, it is worthy of remark that the apprehension of matters of thought depends on learning, or natural process of thought, and not on sensation. For though objects of sense are retained in the memory by themselves, only such objects of thought are remembered as we have learned, and we have no memory of their essence.

Recollection is the name given to the recovery of some memory lost by forgetfulness. For forgetfulness is just loss of memory. The faculty of imagination440    τὸ φανταστικόν, the faculty of fantasy. then, having apprehended material objects through the senses, transmits this to the faculty of thought or reason (for they are both the same), and this after it has received and passed judgment on it, passes it on to the faculty of memory. Now the organ of memory is the posterior ventricle of the brain, which the Greeks call the παρεγκεφαλίς, and the vital spirit it contains.

Περὶ τοῦ μνημονευτικοῦ

Τὸ δὲ μνημονευτικόν ἐστι μνήμης καὶ ἀναμνήσεως αἴτιόν τε καὶ ταμιεῖον: μνήμη γάρ ἐστι φαντασία ἐγκαταλελειμμένη ἀπό τινος αἰσθήσεως τῆς κατ' ἐνέργειαν φαινομένης ἢ σωτηρία αἰσθήσεώς τε καὶ νοήσεως. Ἡ γὰρ ψυχὴ τῶν μὲν αἰσθητῶν διὰ τῶν αἰσθητηρίων ἀντιλαμβάνεται ἤγουν αἰσθάνεται, καὶ γίνεται δόξα, τῶν δὲ νοητῶν διὰ τοῦ νοῦ, καὶ γίνεται νόησις: ὅταν οὖν τοὺς τύπους, ὧν τε ἐδόξασεν, ὧν τε ἐνόησεν, διασῴζῃ, μνημονεύειν λέγεται.

Δεῖ δὲ γινώσκειν, ὅτι ἡ τῶν νοητῶν ἀντίληψις οὐ γίνεται, εἰ μὴ ἐκ μαθήσεως ἢ φυσικῆς ἐννοίας, οὐ γὰρ ἐξ αἰσθήσεως: τὰ μὲν γὰρ αἰσθητὰ καθ' ἑαυτὰ μνημονεύεται: τὰ δὲ νοητά, εἴ τι μὲν ἐμάθομεν, μνημονεύομεν, τῆς δὲ οὐσίας αὐτῶν μνήμην οὐκ ἔχομεν.

Ἀνάμνησις δὲ λέγεται μνήμης ἀπολλυμένης ὑπὸ λήθης ἀνάκτησις. Λήθη δέ ἐστι μνήμης ἀποβολή. Τὸ μὲν οὖν φανταστικὸν διὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἀντιλαμβανόμενον τῶν ὑλῶν παραδίδωσι τῷ διανοητικῷ ἢ διαλογιστικῷ (ταὐτὸν γὰρ ἀμφότερα): ὃ παραλαβὸν καὶ κρῖναν παραπέμπει τῷ μνημονευτικῷ. Ὄργανον δὲ τοῦ μνημονευτικοῦ ἡ ὄπισθεν κοιλία τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου, ἣν καὶ παρεγκεφαλίδα καλοῦσι, καὶ τὸ ἐν αὐτῇ ψυχικὸν πνεῦμα.