Full Idea
We can extend the chain of causes acquired from memory, and consequently the identity of our persons beyond our memory, and can comprehend times, and circumstances, and actions, which we have entirely forgot.
Gist of Idea
We use memory to infer personal actions we have since forgotten
Source
David Hume (Treatise of Human Nature [1739], I.IV.6)
Book Reference
'Personal Identity', ed/tr. Perry,John [University of California 1975], p.171
A Reaction
If the principle is just that 'I am my consciousness' (including of my past), then why should not my consciousness of other people's pasts by included in my identity. How do I know that images in my consciousness are MY memories?