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Do we conceptualize every color we consciously discriminate?
1Philosophy Program, Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA. jfberger@gmail.com
Consciousness and Cognition
|May 3, 2011
Summary
This study explores color consciousness and conceptualism. It suggests that while we may possess concepts for all consciously discriminated colors, we don't always deploy them during perception.
Area of Science:
- Philosophy of Mind
- Cognitive Science
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Color-consciousness conceptualism posits that conscious perception of color involves deploying concepts for each discriminated hue.
- Experimental evidence on discriminating similar hues in succession challenges this, suggesting some discriminations occur without explicit conceptualization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate Mandik's conceptualism against experimental findings on color discrimination.
- To determine if conscious color discrimination necessitates the deployment of color concepts.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of experimental data on the discrimination of barely distinct hues.
- Philosophical argumentation regarding the relationship between conscious states, color discrimination, and conceptual deployment.
Main Results:
- Mandik's conceptualism is compatible with evidence showing discrimination of hues presented simultaneously but not successively.
- The study acknowledges cases where conscious color discrimination occurs without explicit conceptual engagement.
Conclusions:
- Mandik's arguments support a modified conceptualism: we have concepts for all consciously discriminated colors, but they are not always actively deployed.
- This nuanced view distinguishes between possessing color concepts and actively deploying them during conscious perception.
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