Hume's Colors and Newton's Colored Lights

Abstract

In a 2004 paper, ‘Hume's Missing Shade of Blue Reconsidered from a Newtonian Perspective,’ Eric Schliesser argues that Hume's well-known discussion of the missing shade of blue ‘reveals considerable ignorance of Newton's achievement in optics,’ and that Hume has failed to assimilate the lessons taught by Newton's optical experiments. I argue in this paper, contrary to Schliesser, that Hume's views on color are logically and evidentially independent of Newton's results. In developing my reading, I will argue that Schliesser accepts an overly broad interpretation of the implications of Newton's experimental results, and takes inadequate account of Hume's disciplined methodological restrictions on the kinds of experiential evidence that are to be admitted in building the foundations of his science of human nature.