Single Idea 6512

[catalogued under 12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 2. Qualities in Perception / b. Primary/secondary]

Full Idea

Primary qualities and secondary qualities are often distinguished on the grounds that secondaries are restricted to one sensory modality, but primaries can appear in more.

Clarification

A 'modality' is a way of doing it, such as sight or hearing

Gist of Idea

Secondary qualities have one sensory mode, but primary qualities can have more

Source

Howard Robinson (Perception [1994], VIII.7)

Book Reference

Robinson,Howard: 'Perception' [Routledge 2001], p.207


A Reaction

This distinction seems to me to be accurate and important. It is not just that the two types are phenomenally different - it is that the best explanation is that the secondaries depend on their one sense, but the primaries are independent.