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Abstract:
1 Pseudonormal Vision and Functionalism
Is it possible that a person who behaves just like you and me in
normal life situations and applies color words to objects just as
we do and makes the same color discriminations, see green where we
see red and red where we see green? Or, to put the same question
from another perspective: Is it possible that you are yourself
red-green inverted with respect to all or most other people and
that you thus are and have always been radically wrong about what
other people see when looking at a sunset or the moving leaves of a
tree?
Philosophers normally discuss the possibility of Qualia
Inversion by considering thought experiments. But there is, in
fact, scientific evidence for the existence of such cases. Theories
about the physiological basis of color vision deficiencies together
with theories about the genetics of color vision deficiencies lead
to the prediction that some people are "pseudonormal." 2
Pseudonormal people "would be expected to have normal color vision
except that the sensations of red and green would be
reversed-something that would be difficult, if not impossible, to
prove." 3 This inversion would affect the perception of any color
that contains a red or green component. A greenish blue river would
appear violet to a pseudonormal person. Remember, however, that
this description will give you a correct idea of what pseudonormal
people experience only if you are not yourself one of them. But
there is a chance that you are. According to a model of the
genetics of color vision deficiencies that was first presented by
Piantanida in 1974 pseudonormality occurs in 14 of 10 000 males. 4
It is instructive to see how the prediction of pseudonormal vision
follows from the combination of several empirically supported
assumptions.
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