Can the physicalist explain colour structure in terms of colour experience?

Adam Pautz*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    40 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Physicalism about colour is the thesis that colours are identical with response-independent, physical properties of objects. I endorse the Argument from Structure against Physicalism about colour. The argument states that Physicalism cannot accommodate certain obvious facts about colour structure: for instance, that red is a unitary colour while purple is a binary colour, and that blue resembles purple more than green. I provide a detailed formulation of the argument. According to the most popular response to the argument, the Physicalist can accommodate colour structure by explaining it in terms of colour experience. I argue that this response fails. Along the way, I examine other interesting issues in the philosophy of colour and colour perception, for instance the relational structure of colour experience and the description theory of how colour names refer.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)535-564
    Number of pages30
    JournalAustralasian Journal of Philosophy
    Volume84
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2006

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