Colour, Perception, and Mediated Ontology

The philosophical essay, "Seeing Red – Or, How the Enlightenment Got Colour-Blind," presents a critique of traditional Western metaphysical architectures—specifically Realism and Idealism—concerning the nature of perception, using colour as a primary case study. The author introduces the MEOW thesis, which posits that properties like redness are not located "in" the mind or "in" the world but rather exist in the event of the encounter between the two. The central argument is that perception is never "raw" but is instead thoroughly shaped by four layers of mediation: Biological (T₀), Cognitive (T₁), Linguistic–Conceptual (T₂), and Cultural–Normative (T₃). Ultimately, the text argues that colour is a "structured relational event" co-constituted by these layers interacting with stable constraint patterns, challenging the Enlightenment's view of objective, unmediated perception.👉 https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/24/seeing-red-or-how-the-enlightenment-got-colour-blind/