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The Language of Colour: Neurology and the Ineffable

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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The Language of Colour: Neurology and the Ineffable. / Unwin, Nicholas.
In: Biolinguistics, Vol. 6, No. 3-4, 12.2012, p. 475-490.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Unwin, N 2012, 'The Language of Colour: Neurology and the Ineffable', Biolinguistics, vol. 6, no. 3-4, pp. 475-490. <http://www.biolinguistics.eu/index.php/biolinguistics/article/view/225>

APA

Unwin, N. (2012). The Language of Colour: Neurology and the Ineffable. Biolinguistics, 6(3-4), 475-490. http://www.biolinguistics.eu/index.php/biolinguistics/article/view/225

Vancouver

Unwin N. The Language of Colour: Neurology and the Ineffable. Biolinguistics. 2012 Dec;6(3-4):475-490.

Author

Unwin, Nicholas. / The Language of Colour : Neurology and the Ineffable. In: Biolinguistics. 2012 ; Vol. 6, No. 3-4. pp. 475-490.

Bibtex

@article{c476910ff7fb49f6865fb2128bfda774,
title = "The Language of Colour: Neurology and the Ineffable",
abstract = "It is often claimed, following Joseph Levine, that there is an {\textquoteleft}explanatory gap{\textquoteright} between ordinary physical facts and the way we perceive things, so that it is impossible to explain, among other things, why colours actually look the way they do. C.L. Hardin, by contrast, argues that there are sufficient asymmetries between colours to traverse this gap. This paper argues that the terms we use to characterize colours, such as {\textquoteleft}warm{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}cool{\textquoteright}, are not well understood, and that we need to understand the neurological basis for such associations if we are even to understand what is fully meant by saying, for example, that red is a warm colour. This paper also speculates on how Hardin{\textquoteright}s strategy can be generalized. A PowerPoint presentation that depicts inverted colour qualia is attached as an appendix.",
keywords = "C.L. Hardin, colour , colour vocabulary , explanatory gap , per-ception, qualia",
author = "Nicholas Unwin",
note = "This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.",
year = "2012",
month = dec,
language = "English",
volume = "6",
pages = "475--490",
journal = "Biolinguistics",
issn = "1450-3417",
publisher = "Biolinguistics Journal Team",
number = "3-4",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Language of Colour

T2 - Neurology and the Ineffable

AU - Unwin, Nicholas

N1 - This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

PY - 2012/12

Y1 - 2012/12

N2 - It is often claimed, following Joseph Levine, that there is an ‘explanatory gap’ between ordinary physical facts and the way we perceive things, so that it is impossible to explain, among other things, why colours actually look the way they do. C.L. Hardin, by contrast, argues that there are sufficient asymmetries between colours to traverse this gap. This paper argues that the terms we use to characterize colours, such as ‘warm’ and ‘cool’, are not well understood, and that we need to understand the neurological basis for such associations if we are even to understand what is fully meant by saying, for example, that red is a warm colour. This paper also speculates on how Hardin’s strategy can be generalized. A PowerPoint presentation that depicts inverted colour qualia is attached as an appendix.

AB - It is often claimed, following Joseph Levine, that there is an ‘explanatory gap’ between ordinary physical facts and the way we perceive things, so that it is impossible to explain, among other things, why colours actually look the way they do. C.L. Hardin, by contrast, argues that there are sufficient asymmetries between colours to traverse this gap. This paper argues that the terms we use to characterize colours, such as ‘warm’ and ‘cool’, are not well understood, and that we need to understand the neurological basis for such associations if we are even to understand what is fully meant by saying, for example, that red is a warm colour. This paper also speculates on how Hardin’s strategy can be generalized. A PowerPoint presentation that depicts inverted colour qualia is attached as an appendix.

KW - C.L. Hardin

KW - colour

KW - colour vocabulary

KW - explanatory gap

KW - per-ception

KW - qualia

M3 - Journal article

VL - 6

SP - 475

EP - 490

JO - Biolinguistics

JF - Biolinguistics

SN - 1450-3417

IS - 3-4

ER -