Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T14:02:59.439Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - The Knowledge Argument Meets Representationalism about Colour Experience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2019

Sam Coleman
Affiliation:
University of Hertfordshire
Get access

Summary

Mary has new kinds of experiences when she leaves the black and white room. The change is akin to the difference between seeing black and white films and seeing films in colour. That much is common ground in the debate over the knowledge argument. This suggests that an ultimately satisfying reply to the argument on behalf of physicalism should base itself on a plausible view about the nature of the experiences she has for the first time on leaving the black and white room. It is, after all, the nature of these experiences that lies at the heart of the argument’s intuitive appeal. In this chapter, I offer an account of colour experiences and explain how it tells us physicalists what is wrong with the knowledge argument.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×