2023/12/04 by Adam Balmer · 1 voice
Neuroscience · #Visual perception and processing mechanisms #Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies #Aesthetic Perception and Analysis
paper · doi:10.1080/09515089.2023.2290181
openalex publication_date 2023/12/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15
Externalism about colour phenomenology claims that the phenomenal character of colour experiences is determined by mind-independent properties of perceptual objects. The structural mismatch argument shows that physical properties of perceived mind-independent things are not similar in ways that correlate with the ways in which the phenomenal character of colour experiences are similar. Structural mismatch has thus been perceived by some to demonstrate that correlative externalism (which takes mind-independent physical properties to correlate systematically with colour phenomenology) is false. This argument is defused if there are broad physical properties that can bear similarity relations that do correlate with those held by the phenomenal character of colour experiences. I defend the view that disjunctive properties can perform this role by showing that disjunctive properties can account for metamerism, the unique and binary hue distinction, and differences in perceived colours between subjects. Finally, I argue that correlative externalism is better placed than other views to explain why the physical properties identified by the physical sciences correlate with colour experiences with the particular phenomenal character they have.