How Colours Matter to Philosophy

326 Pages·2017·4.857 MB·English

by  Marcos Silva (eds.)

Synthese Library 388
Studies in Epistemology, Logic, Methodology,
and Philosophy of Science
Marcos Silva Editor
How Colours
Matter to
Philosophy
Synthese Library
Studies in Epistemology, Logic, Methodology,
and Philosophy of Science
Volume 388
Editor-in-Chief
OtávioBueno,UniversityofMiami,DepartmentofPhilosophy,USA
Editors
BeritBrogaard,UniversityofMiami,USA
AnjanChakravartty,UniversityofNotreDame,USA
StevenFrench,UniversityofLeeds,UK
CatarinaDutilhNovaes,UniversityofGroningen,TheNetherlands
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Marcos Silva
Editor
How Colours Matter
to Philosophy
123
Editor
MarcosSilva
FederalUniversityofAlagoas
Maceió,Alagoas,Brazil
SyntheseLibrary
ISBN978-3-319-67397-4 ISBN978-3-319-67398-1 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-67398-1
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Endorsements
Questionsaboutthenatureofcolour–howandwhatweknowaboutthem;howwe
experience them; how they fit into nature – grip the philosophical imagination
as much today as they have done down the ages. This outstanding volume
collectstogetherscholarswithadeepunderstandingofthehistoryoflongstanding
epistemological and metaphysical puzzles and the history of debates associated
withcolour.Yetitdoesmuchmore,itsaddressesagapinthemarket,byrevealing
howlearninglessonsfromboththeanalyticandcontinentalphilosophicaltraditions
canbearfruitinourthinkingaboutcolour.Morethanthat,thecollectionshowcases
how new research about the nature of colour figures can inform and be informed
by new thinking about language, mind, phenomenology, aesthetics, logic and
mathematics. Its chapters make clear why questions they examine matter to those
working in fields and disciplines outside of philosophy. In achieving all of this,
thisbookbeautifullypreparesthegroundforthenextstepsinourresearchonand
philosophisingaboutcolour.
Daniel D. Hutto is Professor of Philosophical Psychology at the University of
Wollongong,Australia
ItisnotanoverstatementtosaythatHowColoursMattertoPhilosophyisaground-
breaking publication. It is the first edited volume on the philosophy of colour to
reach far beyond the core topics of metaphysics, epistemology and naturalistic
philosophy ofmind,bringingwithinitspurviewlogic,philosophy ofmathematics
andaesthetics.Therearealsoimportantcontributionstotheliteratureonrelatively
under-explored historical topics, such as Wittgenstein’s theory of colour and
Goethe’s philosophy of the scientific method. The entries are methodologically
sophisticatedandphilosophicallyrewarding,andIexpectthatmanyofthemwillbe
the starting point for future scholarly debates. The volume is essential reading for
advancedstudentsandresearchersseekingnewperspectivesonaperennialissuein
systematicphilosophy.
MazviitaChirimuutaisAssociateProfessor,History&PhilosophyofScienceat
theUniversityofPittsburgh,USA
v
vi Endorsements
The book assembles an impressive variety of contributions from different theoret-
ical approaches and philosophical traditions. The puzzling nature of colours, its
central common theme, unites chapters touching on a great number of domains
(philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, metaphysics, logic, philosophy of
science and history of philosophy). This diverse collection has the potential to
seduce readers into getting to know research areas they would otherwise have
ignored. It contains a number of rigorously argued and yet accessible original
papers. Anyone interested in philosophical issues about colour will find it highly
stimulating.
Martine Nida-Rümelin is Philosophy Professor at the Université de Fribourg,
Switzerland
Colour has intrigued and puzzled scientists and philosophers since antiquity.
Nowadays, the philosophy of colour is a highly active subfield in analytic phi-
losophy. While acknowledging the contemporary discussions and often directly
contributing to them, this collection of papers aims to also approach the philos-
ophy of colour from less well-travelled paths. Thus detailed attention is paid to
the history of thinking about colour, to phenomenology and mathematics, and
not all of this book’s authors take naturalism, or the standard forms of it, for
granted. The high-quality papers included in this anthology succeed admirably
in enriching current philosophical thinking about colour. The reader will find
refreshing treatments of familiar problems and will be guided to neglected and
novel philosophical questions that the elusive phenomenon of colour continues
topose.
ErikMyinisProfessorofPhilosophyattheUniversityofAntwerp,Belgium
This is certainly the most complete collection of philosophical essays on colours
everpublished.Thoseinterestedinthehistoryoftheproblemsinceantiquityorin
thefamousdebateopposingNewtonandGoethewillfindherenewinterpretations.
But there is much more. Colours can be approached from many different points
of view: logico-linguistic, phenomenological, aesthetic or metaphysical. It is hard
to believe that all these approaches can find their place in one single book. This
is Marcos Silva’s feat: for years, he worked hard and patiently to gather all
these essays and organized them by topics. The result is astonishing: what makes
our sensorial experiences so rich and lively is here, at least in part, deciphered.
If not all the philosophical enigmas associated with colours are resolved, this
collection of original and up-to-date essays is no doubt an important step in the
rightdirection.
AndréLeclercisProfessorofPhilosophyattheUniversityofBrasília,Brazil
This outstanding volume merges eighteen excellent paradigms of showing how
coloursandtheirexpressionsmattertophilosophy.Transcendingtraditionalbound-
aries authors from twelve countries combine aspects of metaphysics, history
of philosophy, epistemology, philosophy of mind, aesthetics, psychology, lin-
guistics, logic and mathematics in a very inspiring manner. Anyone who is
interested in philosophical investigations on colours can learn a lot starting with
Endorsements vii
the ancient Greeks, continuing with Goethe, Newton, Husserl, Katz, Bühler,
Heidegger, Wittgenstein and ending up with advanced studies in the contexts
of vagueness, cognition and the four-colour theorem. All in all, this collection
represents a new milestone in the ongoing philosophical debate on colours and
colourexpressions.
Ingolf Max is Professor of Analytic Philosophy at the University of Leipzig,
Germany
Contents
PartI HistoryofPhilosophy
Dispositionalism:DemocritusandColoursbyConvention.................. 3
BarryMaund
Hue,Brightness&SaturationinClassicalGreekChromaTerms ......... 25
EkaiTxapartegi
HowManyColours?............................................................. 47
KirstenWalsh
GoethecontraNewtononColours,Light,andthePhilosophy
ofScience.......................................................................... 73
OlafL.Müller
OnColor:TheHusserlianMaterialaPriori.................................. 97
JairoJoséda Silva
ImpossibleColours:WittgensteinandtheNaturalist’sChallenge ......... 107
AndrewLugg
PartII PhenomenologyandPhilosophyofMind
Colours–Wittgensteinvs(Katz&Bühler)................................... 125
KevinMulligan
WhattheMind-IndependenceofColorRequires ............................ 137
PeterW.Ross
ExplainingColourPhenomenology............................................ 159
NicholasUnwin
DaseinIstheAnimalThatSortsOutColors.................................. 175
BernardoAinbinder
ix
x Contents
SubjectivityandNormativityinColour-Distinctions ........................ 195
PirminStekeler-Weithofer
Colors:PresentationandRepresentationintheFineArts.................. 215
OtávioBueno
PartIII PhilosophyofLanguageandPhilosophyofLogic
ThingsAreNotWhatTheySeem .............................................. 225
GrahamPriest
Vagueness,Hysteresis,andtheInstabilityofColor .......................... 237
DianaRaffman
LogicandColourinCognition,LogicandPhilosophy ...................... 249
DanyJaspers
AChromaticHexagonofPsychicDispositions ............................... 273
Jean-YvesBeziau
ProofsVersusExperiments:WittgensteinianThemesSurrounding
theFour-ColorTheorem ........................................................ 289
GiseleDalvaSeccoandLuizCarlosPereira
TheWonderofColorsandthePrincipleofAriadne......................... 309
WalterCarnielliandCarlosdiPrisco
NameIndex....................................................................... 319
SubjectIndex..................................................................... 321