Enlightened remembering and the paradox of forgetting: from Dante to data privacy
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Date
2023-06-20
Authors
O'Callaghan, Patrick
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Published Version
Abstract
This paper adopts a law and humanities-based methodology to critique the binary distinction between remembering and forgetting that often features in law and policy. Using the right to be forgotten as a case study, the paper argues that such a distinction conceals the many ways that remembering and forgetting are intrinsically connected. In particular, a binary distinction understands forgetting as not remembering. But forgetting can also take the form of enlightened remembering: a deliberate choice to think differently about the past, an attempt to remember it in more positive or constructive ways. Drawing on insights from Dante’s Divine Comedy, the paper pursues a normative argument about the value of enlightened remembering and then assesses the implications for legal discourse.
Description
Keywords
Right to be forgotten , Right to forget , Remembering and forgetting , Law and literature , Dante
Citation
O’Callaghan, P. (2023) 'Enlightened remembering and the paradox of forgetting: from Dante to data privacy', Law and Humanities, 17(2), pp. 210–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/17521483.2023.2223806