Colors and Sounds
Fall 2006
Syllabus [draft subject to change]
Course Description:
- Traditionally, philosophical thought about perception and
consciousness has focused primarily on vision -- in particular, on
color and color experience. Philosophers interested in the nature
and content of experience, however, have much to learn through
attention to the distinctive features of other sensory modalities and
the things we perceive through them. In this seminar, we examine
what colors are, what sorts of things are colored, and the
relationship between colors and our experiences of them. We then
investigate the nature of sounds and of auditory experience, and
address the questions associated with developing a philosophical
theory of auditory perception. Prerequisite: One of the following: 211,
232, 234, 235, 236, 245, 272, or 274.
Sample reading list:
- Byrne and Hilbert (1997), Readings on Color, Vols. I and II,
(MIT).
- Hardin (1988), Color for Philosophers: Unweaving the Rainbow,
(Hackett).
- Hilbert (1987), Color and Color Perception, (CSLI).
- Pasnau (1999), "What is Sound?" Philosophical Quarterly.
- Thompson (1995), Colour Vision, (Routledge).
- Tye (2000), Consciousness, Color, and Content, (MIT).