Practical Memory

Abstract

Just as factual memory might be defined in terms of factual knowledge, so it seems that practical memory, remembering how to do something, can be defined in terms of practical knowledge, knowing how to do it. To remember how to drive a car is to know how to drive one, where this is not knowledge I have just acquired, but something I knew before; just as factual memory is retained factual knowledge, so, in the same way, practical memory is retained practical knowledge. And just as practical knowledge seems to consist in possessing certain acquired abilities and skills, so too does practical memory; to remember or know how to drive a car is simply to be able to do so. There do not seem to be any special problems here.