My sense of sight is assaulted by colors as long as my eyes are not closed. Colors from an extensive, vibrant spectrum appear wherever I look, unique to each object I perceive. Does color actually exist beyond my consciousness, or is color nothing more than a perception-based phenomenon?
That color is perceived subjectively is evident by the fact that some people disagree about what color an item is. The same object might be perceived to have differing shades of the same color by two or more people, or might even be perceived to have two different colors entirely. Nonetheless, it remains true that I truly do perceive different shades that I refer to as "blue," "red," "green," and so on. That colors manifest themselves in perception is not uncertain. What is uncertain, instead, is if experiences of color mean that color actually exists as an objective property of matter.
Perceptions of color are subjective, but this alone does not mean that an object does not objectively have specific color(s) independent of subjective observation. But I cannot escape my perceptions of colors in order to discover if objects actually possess them. Perception of color is a key feature of my sensory experiences, yet color may not have any mind-independent existence. Color might not exist in any form outside of visual perceptions; the material world could be entirely absent of the distinct colors my sense of sight reports to my mind.
It is entirely possible that there are no colors outside of my consciousness, or at least that all existing material objects display a single universal color. Though they could be true, these possibilities are impossible to verify or falsify, since doing do would require a different metaphysical and epistemological status than the one I presently have.
The presence of color still haunts my everyday experiences, persisting despite its enigmatic nature. In this regard it is like many other epistemological issues. Limitations do not remove aspects of reality from a state of being true, but they do affect which aspects of reality I can know.
That color is perceived subjectively is evident by the fact that some people disagree about what color an item is. The same object might be perceived to have differing shades of the same color by two or more people, or might even be perceived to have two different colors entirely. Nonetheless, it remains true that I truly do perceive different shades that I refer to as "blue," "red," "green," and so on. That colors manifest themselves in perception is not uncertain. What is uncertain, instead, is if experiences of color mean that color actually exists as an objective property of matter.
Perceptions of color are subjective, but this alone does not mean that an object does not objectively have specific color(s) independent of subjective observation. But I cannot escape my perceptions of colors in order to discover if objects actually possess them. Perception of color is a key feature of my sensory experiences, yet color may not have any mind-independent existence. Color might not exist in any form outside of visual perceptions; the material world could be entirely absent of the distinct colors my sense of sight reports to my mind.
It is entirely possible that there are no colors outside of my consciousness, or at least that all existing material objects display a single universal color. Though they could be true, these possibilities are impossible to verify or falsify, since doing do would require a different metaphysical and epistemological status than the one I presently have.
The presence of color still haunts my everyday experiences, persisting despite its enigmatic nature. In this regard it is like many other epistemological issues. Limitations do not remove aspects of reality from a state of being true, but they do affect which aspects of reality I can know.
No comments:
Post a Comment