Date of Award
5-1-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in Music
First Advisor
Rhonda Hackworth
Second Advisor
Elizabeth Hearn
Third Advisor
Andrew Paney
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
The traditional memory theory of personal identity relies on an implicit storage model of memory to explain how the self persists over time. This model assumes that memories endure as stable representations that can be accurately retrieved, and that such representational continuity grounds diachronic identity. However, contemporary cognitive science demonstrates that remembering is an active and reconstructive process. Each act of recall reorganizes and transforms prior experience during the window of ecphory. This reconstructive reality poses a significant philosophical challenge. If memory is inherently unstable and transformable, it cannot straightforwardly ground the kind of continuity the theory requires.
In this thesis, I argue that the tension between reconstructive memory and personal identity can be resolved by moving beyond the storage model and adopting Bertrand Russell’s concept of mnemic causation. Rather than treating memory as the preservation of static traces, mnemic causation offers a structural framework in which past events exert ongoing causal influence on present cognition. By interpreting this framework through Russell’s commitment to neutral monism, I show how memory can establish continuity without relying on dualist assumptions or demanding representational fidelity.
Building on this process-based view, I propose an account of the self as a continuous act of causal narration. Identity across time is sustained not by the retention of accurate mental contents but by the unbroken causal process linking past experiences to present psychological states. Within this framework, the reconstructive nature of memory is no longer a threat to personal persistence. Instead, the capacity to reinterpret and reshape the past becomes the very mechanism through which the self endures. A person persists as an unreliable narrator, one whose continuous revisions are the structural means of sustaining identity through change.
Recommended Citation
Lee, Kendra Jenkins, "With equity and inclusivity for all: self-reported preparedness of band directors to teach students with exceptional needs" (2026). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 8843.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/8843