Color Constancy Illuminated

The phenomenon of color constancy has often been appealed to in philosophical discussions of the nature and perception of colors. In these discussions, two ways of interpreting the role of illumination and illuminants in color vision are prominent. Color realists and objectivists argue that colors are illumination-independent properties because they are perceived and recognized despite changes in illumination. Color relationalists and subjectivists, on the other hand, deny that colors remain constant across changes in illumination and conclude that colors are relative and illumination-dependent properties. I offer an alternative to these opposing views and argue that colors are illumination-dependent but also objective and intrinsic properties of surfaces. The result is an entirely original approach to the role of illumination and illuminants in color perception.