Democritus’ Theory of Colour

Abstract

I argue that Democritus presents a theory of colour in which the predominance of atomic shapes and microstructural arrangements are necessary but not sufficient for colour vision. Focusing primarily on Democritus’ basic colours, I analyse his microstructural account, providing a new analysis of the natural and technological underpinnings of his method of explanation. I argue that the notion of predominance allows Democritus to account for both the variation and the repeatable correspondence of colour perception by setting limits on possible microstructures. This account, however, is complicated by the evidence for a Democritean theory of colour transformation and distorted vision, which arise from a dynamic interplay of features at the level of microstructures and at the level of perception.

Material perception for philosophers

“…3 3 An interesting case is Democritus' lost work on color, for which Theophrastus is a major source. Different material properties such as smoothness, fragility, and hardness feature in his analysis of brightness (Rudolph, 2020). …”

“…An interesting case is Democritus' lost work on colour, for which Theophrastus is a major source. Different material properties such as smoothness, fragility, and hardness feature in his analysis of brightness(Rudolph, 2020).4 Though according to Reid we can learn to see anything we might also perceive by touch, including hardness. SeeCopenhaver (2010).…”

“…Thus, whether a region appears as a material in the first place cannot simply be a result of image statistics or textural representations(Ritchie & van Buren, 2020).3 An interesting case is Democritus' lost work on color, for which Theophrastus is a major source. Different material properties such as smoothness, fragility, and hardness feature in his analysis of brightness(Rudolph, 2020).4 Though according to Reid we can learn to see anything we might also perceive by touch, including hardness. See Copenhaver (2010).5 Another related, but obscure notion, is that of poikilia, which was associated with many properties of artworks originally applied to textures and fabric (seeGrand-Clement, 2015).…”