Memorative Sense

Nature of the memorative sense.

The memorative power retains the perception of the estimative power, that is, it retains the perceptions that cannot be retained by the imagination. Hence, the memorative power is to the estimative sense as the imagination is to the external senses and to the central sense.

Functions of the memorative sense.

The memorative sense has the following functions:

1. To retain the perceptions of the estimative sense, namely, to remember what is harmful and beneficial for the animal.
2. To recognize the experiences of the past as concretely past.
3. In man, to help the recollection of memories by way of a sort of syllogism, or by way of a spontaneous recollection, like association. This is called reminiscence in man:As to the memorative power, man has not only memory,… but also reminiscence by syllogistically, as it were, seeking for a recollection of the pest by the application of individual intentions. (( ST I, 78, 4; cf: Aristotle, De anima, III, 2; De memoria et reminiscentia.)

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