Remarks on Colour

1. Auflage 1979
ISBN: 978-0-631-11641-7
Verlag: John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 144 Seiten, Format (B × H): 140 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 194 g

This book comprises material on colour which was written by Wittgenstein in the last eighteen months of his life. It is one of the few documents which shows him concentratedly at work on a single philosophical issue. The principal theme is the features of different colours, of different kinds of colour (metallic colour, the colours of flames, etc.) and of luminosity—a theme which Wittgenstein treats in such a way as to destroy the traditional idea that colour is a simple and logically uniform kind of thing.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wittgenstein, Ludwig

Anscombe, G. E. M.

Weitere Mitwirkende

Mcalister, Linda L.

Schattle, Margarete

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Part I: Introduction

Preface

Introduction to Wittgenstein's philosophy of color

Key concepts: color names, color space, seeing aspects

Part II: Philosophical Investigations on Color

Section 1: Basic Color Concepts

The nature of color terms and their application

The relationship between color and object

Can we imagine impossible colors?

Section 2: Color Comparisons and Similarity

How we judge whether two colors are the same or different

The role of context in color perception

Color illusions and their philosophical significance

Section 3: Language and Color Experience

The limits of language in describing color

Private language arguments related to color

The social construction of color categories

Section 4: Seeing Aspects and Color Perception

The idea of "seeing aspects" and its application to color

The relationship between perception and judgment in color

Part III: Conclusion

Summary of key points regarding color and language

Open questions and further considerations

Über Autor(innen)

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) was arguably the most influential philosopher of the twentieth century. He was born in Vienna, but studied and practiced philosophy in Great Britain. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1939 until 1947. He worked in and transformed the fields of logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language.

Anscombe (1919-2001) read classics and philosophy at St Hugh's College, Oxford from 1937 to 1941 in which year she married the philosopher Peter Geach. She subsequently researched in philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge where she became a student and friend of Ludwig Wittgenstein. One of his literary executors, she played a large part in editing his unpublished works and was their principal English translator. In 1946 she returned to Oxford as a University Lecturer in 1951. From 1970 until her retirement in 1986 she held the Chair of Philosophy at Cambridge.