On Vision and Colours
Schopenhauer explains color perception through retinal activity and its qualitative division. He continues his exchanges with Goethe while assigning the perceiving subject a distinctive theoretical role.
Understanding the text
Published in 1816 and revised in 1854, the work belongs to the history of physiology and optics; its theory is not contemporary vision science.
Key points
- 01
Perception
Seeing does not simply consist in passively receiving a copy of the external world.
- 02
Complementarity
Complementary colors are understood as correlated divisions of retinal activity.
- 03
Scientific debate
Criticism of Newton and relationships with Goethe must be distinguished from experimentally established findings.
How to read it
Compare the described experiments with their interpretations and locate claims that depend on the philosophy of the subject.
Editions & sources
Summaries and key points are original editorial interpretations. They accompany reading the work and do not replace an edition of the text. Editorial method ↗