more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
It would not carry any implication of falsehood to our simple ideas if by the different structure of our organs it were so ordered that the same object should produce in several men's minds different ideas at the same time (e.g. the colour of a violet).
Gist of Idea
There is nothing illogical about inverted qualia
Source
John Locke (Essay Conc Human Understanding (2nd Ed) [1694], 2.32.15)
Book Ref
Locke,John: 'Essay Concerning Human Understanding', ed/tr. Nidditch,P.H. [OUP 1979], p.389
A Reaction
The vital point here is that it would be based on 'different structures'. I personally cannot see any objection to the possibility that someone's qualia might be inverted - by brain surgery. That is a problem for naïve realists, though.
| 2421 | There is nothing illogical about inverted qualia [Locke] |
| 3522 | The same object might produce violet in one mind and marigold in another [Locke] |
| 3389 | Inverted qualia and zombies suggest experience isn't just functional [Kim] |
| 3391 | Crosswiring would show that pain and its function are separate [Kim, by PG] |
| 7376 | We can't assume that dispositions will remain normal when qualia have been inverted [Dennett] |
| 3229 | If colour fits a cone mapping hue, brightness and saturation, rotating the cone could give spectrum inversion [Rey] |
| 4107 | With inverted qualia a person's experiences would change, but their beliefs remain the same [Crane] |
| 2402 | It seems possible to invert qualia [Chalmers] |