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Hue, Brightness & Saturation in Classical Greek Chroma Terms

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Book cover How Colours Matter to Philosophy

Part of the book series: Synthese Library ((SYLI,volume 388))

Abstract

The Universals and Evolution model in cross-language color naming systems (Berlin B, Kay P, Basic color terms. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1969) predicted that Classical Greek chroma terms should have referred to hue regions of the color space. In this article, I propose an original reading of the Plato’s Timaeus (67c68d) that provides additional support to that prediction. It also shows that he was well aware of the distinction between saturation, brightness and hue.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    There are also some other alternative explanations for the universal tendencies in color naming. For a brief summary, see Regier and Kay (2006: 53)

  2. 2.

    The ‘external reasons’ are usually cashed out in cultural terms. It could refer to technological improvements that create an ‘informationally richer cultural environment’ (Berlin and Kay 1969: 16; Casson 1997; Kay and Maffi 1999) or to the inter-cultural ‘diffusion’ of color words (Warburton 2007: 240).

  3. 3.

    For responses to these critics, see Kay and Berlin (1997) and Kay (2006).

  4. 4.

    The Emergence Hypothesis was first explicitly formulated by Kay (1999) in his discussion with Lyons (1999).

  5. 5.

    Moonwomon (1994) argues that the Early Greek color naming system (from 1400 BC to 500 BC) was in transition to stage III. However, it seems that by the time Plato wrote the Timeaus (352 BC -?-) ‘yellow’, ‘green’ and ‘blue’ had already been differentiated.

  6. 6.

    “I say: The person who cannot play this game does not have this concept” (Wittgenstein RC: III-115). If Plato were unable to perform the Munsell task, then clearly that would count as a sign of them lacking our hue-centered color concepts. However, the opposite is not true: his ability to perform the Munsell task, in itself, does not show that they shared a ‘hue concept’.

  7. 7.

    Anthropologists also recognize the existence of “wild card” basic color terms. These are classified into two groups: “desaturated” (“which contains grey and a diverse collection of hues that never attain high saturation” Kay et al. 1997: 33) and “heterogeneous” (“which do not name a continuous area of the surface of the color solid” Kay et al. 1997: 34). In particular, the possibility is left open that heterogeneous basic color terms may be more common than the evolutionary theory presupposes (Kay et al. 1997: 54. See also Greenfeld 1986).

  8. 8.

    Mixture n.8: πυρροῦ δὲ μέλανι πράσιον τὰ δὲ (Timaeus 68c).

  9. 9.

    He does not, in fact, provide many examples of colored objects. The few occasions when colored objects appear in his dialogues are, with the exception of ‘gold’ and ‘purpled’ dresses (Republic 420e2; Ion 535d2–3) and the enemies’ army (Republic 368d), when he describes mythological scenarios (Phaedrus 253d3–e5; Republic 616e8–617a4; Crito 44b1; Politicus 270e2; Phaedo 110b5–d3).

  10. 10.

    ‘χρϖμα’ compositions may also be beautiful but, in this case, not because of their integrity but because of their overall composition (Republic 420d) and similarity with the original scene (Laws 669a).

  11. 11.

    In this sense, Yolton says that “all sense qualities are copies of Forms” but indirectly so (Yolton 1949: 37).

  12. 12.

    Albeit with some variations, Ierodiakonou 2005. See also Taylor 1928: 480.

  13. 13.

    “Colour is an efflux of shapes, commensurate with and perceptible to sight.” Meno 76d. “[Color is] a flame which streams off from bodies of every sort, and has its particles so proportioned to the visual ray as to yield sensation.” Timaeus 67c.

  14. 14.

    The author of De Coloribus (79I b15–17) was explicit about this: “It is only by aid of light that fire is rendered visible, just as all other objects are made visible by the appearance of their colour”. As is Aristotle in De Sensu 437a6–9.

  15. 15.

    This is consistent with the idea of non-coloric content in color naming systems brought about by the Emergence Hypothesis.

  16. 16.

    The thunderbolt is colorless but the poets call it ‘bright’ (Aristotle, Met. Book 3, 371a1–20, 371b1–8).

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English

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  1. University of Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Lejona, Spain

    Ekai Txapartegi

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  1. Ekai Txapartegi
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  1. Federal University of Alagoas, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil

    Marcos Silva

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Txapartegi, E. (2017). Hue, Brightness & Saturation in Classical Greek Chroma Terms. In: Silva, M. (eds) How Colours Matter to Philosophy. Synthese Library, vol 388. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67398-1_2

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