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In:Colour Studies: A broad spectrum
Edited by Wendy Anderson, Carole P. Biggam, Carole Hough and Christian Kay
[Not in series 191] 2014
► pp. 273–286

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The metaphysical significance of colour categorization

Mind, world, and their complicated relationship

Published online: 26 November 2014
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https://doi.org/10.1075/z.191.18chi
In this chapter I approach the ancient metaphysical question concerning the reality – or otherwise – of colour. Certain philosophers (Hardin 1993; Pautz 2006) have argued that the existence of colour categories, and colour spaces which instantiate similarity relationships between the categories, give reason for concluding that colour is an entirely subjective and illusory phenomenon. In this chapter I argue instead that an understanding of categorization gives us strong motivation for rejecting any simple dichotomy between real / physical properties and unreal / psychological attributes. This undermines the extreme anti-realist view and leads to a novel argument in favour of a relationist theory of colour, according to which colours are perceiver-dependent but nonetheless real properties of objects.
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Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Chirimuuta, Mazviita
2017. Perceptual Pragmatism and the Naturalized Ontology of Color. Topics in Cognitive Science 9:1 ► pp. 151 ff. DOI logo

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