by Is your green my green? Probably not. What seems to me as pure green will probably look a little yellowish or bluish for you. This is because visual systems vary from person to person. In addition, the color of an object with different backgrounds or under different lighting can vary.
These facts could naturally believe that colors are subjective. In contrast to characteristics such as length and temperature, colors are not objective features. Either there is nothing a real color or colors are relative to observer and your terms of view.
But the perception variation misleaded her. We are philosophers that study colors, objectivity and science, and in our book we argue “The metaphysics of colors” that colors are as objective as length and temperature.
Perception variation
There is a surprising amount of variations in how people perceive the world. If you offer a group of people a spectrum of color chips that range from Chartreuse to Purple, and ask you to choose the unique green chip – the chip without yellow or blue – your selection would vary significantly. In fact, there would be not a single chip that most observers would agree with is uniquely green.
In general, the background of an object can lead to dramatic changes in the perception of its colors. If you place a gray object against a lighter background, it seems darker than if you put it against a darker background. This variation of perception may be most striking when an object is considered under different lighting, in which a red apple could look green or blue.
Of course, that they experience something differently does not prove that what is experienced is not objective. Water that feels cold for one person does not feel cold for another. And although we do not know who feels the water “correctly” or whether this question even makes sense, we can know the temperature of the water and assume that this temperature is independent of its experience.
Similarly, it can change the appearance of a color that is not the same as its color can change. You can make an apple look green or blue, but this is not proof that the apple is not red.
For comparison, the moon appears larger when it is on the horizon than when it appears near his zenit. But the size of the moon has not changed, just his appearance. Therefore, the appearance of the color or size of an object is different to believe that its color and size are not objective features of the object. In other words, the properties of an object are regardless of how they appear to them.
Given the fact that there are so many differences in what objects look like, how do you determine how something is? Is there a way to determine the color of something despite the many different experiences that you could possibly make of it?
Matching colors
Perhaps to determine the color of something is to determine whether it is red or blue. But we suggest a different approach. Note that squares that seem to be the same pink color against different backgrounds look different against the same background.
It is easy to assume that the objective colors, to prove that they are objective, know which observers, lighting conditions and backgrounds are the best or “normal”. However, determining the right observers and the terms of view is not necessary to determine the very specific color of an object, regardless of its name. And it is not necessary to determine whether two objects have the same color.
To determine whether two objects have the same color, an observer would have to display the objects next to the same background and under different lighting conditions. If you have painted part of a room and find that you do not have enough color, for example, it may be very difficult to find a match. A color overlap requires that no observer under an illuminated state records a difference between the new color and the old.
That two people can determine whether two objects have the same color, even if they do not agree on what this color is – just like a water pool can have a certain temperature without feeling the same for me and she – for us that colors are objective characteristics of our world.
Colors, science and indispensability
Everyday interactions with colors – e.g. B. Suitable color patterns determine whether your shirt and your pants collapse, and even their ability to interpret works of art – are difficult to explain whether colors are not objective features of objects. However, if you turn to science and look at how the researchers think about colors, it will be more difficult.
For example, scientific laws are used in the field of color science to explain how objects and light influence the perception and colors of other objects. For example, such laws predict what happens when they mix colored pigments if they see contrasting colors at the same time or successively and consider colored objects under different lighting conditions.
The philosophers Hilary Putnam and Willard van Orman Quine made famous, which is known as an argument for indispensable. The basic idea is that if something is indispensable for science, it has to be real and objective – otherwise science would not work as well as you.
For example, you can ask yourself whether there are really not observable entities such as electrons and electromagnetic fields. But the argument says that the best scientific explanations accept the existence of such entities and have to exist. Similarly, some philosophers argue because mathematics for contemporary science is indispensable that this means that mathematical objects are objective and exist regardless of the spirit of a person.
We also suggest that color plays an indispensable role in evolutionary biology. For example, researchers have argued that aposematism – the use of colors for signal warning for predators – also benefits the ability of an animal to collect resources. Here the coloring of an animal works directly to expand its nischung, provided that it informs potential predators that the animal is poisonous or toxic.
In fact, animals can take advantage of the fact that the same color pattern can be perceived differently from different perceived. For example, some Damselfish ultraviolets have facial patterns that help them be recognized by other members of their species and communicate with potential friends and at the same time remain largely hidden from the predators who are unable to perceive ultraviolet colors.
In summary, it can be said that our ability to determine whether objects are equally or differently colored, and the indispensable roles you play in science indicate that colors are as real and objective as length and temperature.
This article will be released from the conversation, a non -profit, independent news organization that brings you facts and trustworthy analyzes to help you understand our complex world. It was written by: Elay Shech, Auburn University and Michael Watkins, Auburn University
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The authors do not work for a company or an organization that benefits from this article and have not published any relevant affiliations about their academic appointment.
