“But if one imagines a world in which humans never appeared with their contingently evolved visual system, then there is no basis for assigning colors to any object. Why should a surface with a given surface spectral reflectance be called 'yellow'? Without reference to the particular characteristics of the human visual system, there is no physical basis whatsoever for this identification.”
More from Ronald N. Giere
“All observational claims made about the object are made in some perspective or other.…”
“The word planet derives from a Greek word meaning wanderer.”
“Humans are trichromats, which is to say, their retinas contain three different types of…”
“For a perspectival realist, the strongest claims a scientist can legitimately make are of…”