We see red strawberries. Red carpets. Red apples.
We logically conclude that “red” exists since our sensory equipments (eyes) can detect it.
But there are some people who do not see colours.
So? They are colour-blinded we say. The rest of us can see colours. THEY have a problem.
Who decides if something exists anyway? Is it the majority?
If yes, then “red” has a serious problem, since most animals cannot see red colour.
So? Does this mean that red does not exist after all?
Your opinions?
My first opinion is that this isn’t a Science topic.
But then, if anything can be detected by any means as distinct from other things then it exists.
For these kinds of questions, I don’t think a minor, miniscule amount of research is too much to ask before posting. There are certain topics where the subject matter is so vague and abstract that just delving into conversation is perhaps the best approach. This is not one of them.
The interpretation of sensory data is part of science.
And if what you say is true, then what about a crazy person “seeing” a dinosaur? Does the dinosaur exist?
What kind of research would you wish for? Do you not see red? Don’t you know other people do not see colours?
Where it exists and to what capacity (what it is capable of affecting) is another issue.
Dreams exist, just not the scenarios within the dreams except to the person who witnessed them from the perspective he did.
Just a little bit of research. Wikipedia even. Just read some. I’m not suggesting that you don’t make a thread about it at all, merely that you read some stuff that could potentially answer your question and then make a thread that maybe makes some reference to moderately reliable information, instead of just coming in empty handed.
Are you talking about red as the natural wavelength of light?
Are you talking about red as a nervous interpretation of light?
Are you talking about red as the linguistic correspondence to stimulus?
Are you talking about red as a social convention?
See, OP, if you had done just a little bit of research, you could perhaps already have begun to have a meaningful answer for both of these approaches. It wouldn’t have even taken you much time, just a few minutes of reading readily available information, on WIKIPEDIA no less. Just go read some. Tell me what you find out.
OP is asking about mind-independence. Also, it’s obviously just a simple invitation to discuss a topic. Seems polite to either discuss it, ask for clarification, or ignore.
Seems like just basic standards of intellectual discourse would suggest you at least read a little bit before you make this post.
I know philosophers don’t really like to acknowledge this, but some questions have clear answers, and sometimes those answers are incredibly easy to find.
Seems like you haven’t read enough to understand that this is a valid question without clear answers.
Please write down the simple answer to the question “Does red exist?” then…
Right, it’s starts with ‘philosophy has long struggled.’ Exactly my point. Philosophy has a hard time accepting answers. You want to know about color? Research Visible Light, and the Neuroscience of color. Philosophy doesn’t like to reference actual science often, but that doesn’t mean the answers aren’t there, the answers are vague, or the answers are hard to find. Don’t be afraid of answers.
This ought to get you started
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light#Elec … ible_light
google.com/search?q=neurosc … refox-beta
Wow, you’re a fast reader. No wonder you know so much.
Anyway, maybe a better question is how, or in what way, does color exist. And is that answer peculiar to color, or is it the same answer, ultimately, that could be given to any question regarding things that ‘exist’?
In Science the word “red” refers to a specific range of electromagnetic spectrum, and thus unquestionably exists.
And again, anything that can be detected as distinct from anything else by any means exists in Science and to most people throughout the world regardless of Science.
Before such a definition, it was argued as to whether an object possesses the color or the color was a chosen attribute assigned by the mind. As a philosopher, I would have been pulling my hair out in those days because of such nonsensical quandaries that are resolved by simply and properly defined words and concepts.
Yes. It does.
Try not to get so complicated.
“Yes” would have been more easily understood and require one third as much reading and writing.