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Work #1067 · Mature

Theory of Colors

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
1810 (J.G. Cotta, Tübingen) · German
Phenomenological-scientific treatise · German Romanticism / phenomenology of perception

Goethe's phenomenological treatise on color — long out of favour against Newton, rehabilitated by twentieth-century phenomenology

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Theory of Colors (Mature)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Experience
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Theory of Colors

The temporal unfolding of color-perception experiments.

Space

Theory of Colors

The actual perceptual-spatial world where color appears.

Matter

Theory of Colors

Light and the material surfaces and media that produce color.

Observer

Theory of Colors

The embodied perceiver whose experience is the data.

Energy

Theory of Colors

The energies of light and visual perception.

Information

Theory of Colors

The catalogue of color phenomena and their perceptual relations.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Theory of Colors

Long dismissed against Newton; rehabilitated by phenomenology and contemporary perception research. The relation to scientific theory remains complex — Goethe and Newton may not be straightforwardly competing.