Learning from what color experiences are good for

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Color is an incredibly controversial topic. Here is a sample of views taken seriously: colors are dispositions to look coloured; colors are physical properties of surfaces or of light; colors are properties of certain mental states, which get projected onto the surfaces of objects or onto reflected or transmitted light; colors are an illusion; colors are sui generis. One hopes to break the impasse by finding a compelling starting pointone drawing on obvious points that are common groundwhich naturally evolves into the theory of color one likes. I start with remarks about the utility of having mental states with a phenomenology, remarks which are, I urge, non-controversial. I develop them into the theory of color I favor. According to it, colors are properties of objects as objective as their shapes. The final section explains how the theory handles the best argument for subjectivism about color.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)49-58
    JournalHarvard Review of Philosophy
    Volume27
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2020

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