Imagining the Past of the Present

Some objects we value because they afford a felt connection with people, events or places connected with their past. Visiting Canterbury cathedral, you encounter the place where, in 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered by four knights of Henry II. Knowing that you are standing in the very place where Becket's blood was spilled gives the past event a sense of tangible reality. One feels 'in touch with' the past; history seems to 'come alive'. In this paper, I propose an explanation for the phenomenology of such experiences in terms of an imaginative activity that represents what an object is historically connected with as part of the object in the present. One imagines of the site of Becket's murder Becket being murdered. According to my account, objects that embody their histories are representations in Kendall Walton's sense: they have the function of serving as props in games of make-believe.

Automated summary

Some objects are valued because they are associated with people, events, or places from the past, which gives them a sense of tangible reality and makes history come alive. The author proposes an explanation for these experiences, suggesting that they can be explained by an imaginative activity of representing the historical connection of an object as part of its present form.