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Is Color Experience Cognitively Penetrable?
Author(s) -
Brogaard Berit,
Gatzia Dimitria E.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
topics in cognitive science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.191
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1756-8765
pISSN - 1756-8757
DOI - 10.1111/tops.12221
Subject(s) - perception , cognition , psychology , hue , cognitive psychology , color vision , cognitive science , epistemology , philosophy , computer science , artificial intelligence , neuroscience
Is color experience cognitively penetrable? Some philosophers have recently argued that it is. In this paper, we take issue with the claim that color experience is cognitively penetrable. We argue that the notion of cognitive penetration that has recently dominated the literature is flawed since it fails to distinguish between the modulation of perceptual content by non‐perceptual principles and genuine cognitive penetration. We use this distinction to show that studies suggesting that color experience can be modulated by factors of the cognitive system do not establish that color experience is cognitively penetrable. Additionally, we argue that even if color experience turns out to be modulated by color‐related beliefs and knowledge beyond non‐perceptual principles, it does not follow that color experience is cognitively penetrable since the experiences of determinate hues involve post‐perceptual processes. We conclude with a brief discussion of the implications that these ideas may have on debates in philosophy.