White and black are also colors, with Newton himself noting ‘The first of all simple colours is White, though philosophers will not acknowledge either White or Black to be colours.‘

Evidence

Black, white, and grays: Are they colors, absence of color or the sum of all colors? (Color Research & Application (Wiley))

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: White is the most inferior of colors of morals of superiority. It follows that whiteness is the lack of characteristics that make a theme and give it its facets of colors. ; Philosophers examine whether whiteness is a color at all, distinguishing the physics of spectral reflectance from the perception of color, a divide that determines whether white counts as ‘a color’ or ‘achromatic.’ — Color (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy); Newton states ‘Whiteness and all grey Colours between white and black, may be compounded of Colours, and the whiteness of the Sun’s Light is compounded of all the primary Colours mixt in a due Proportion.’ — The First Book of Opticks. Part II (1704)

Related

• Newton states ‘Whiteness and all grey Colours between white and black, may be compounded of Colours, and the whiteness of the Sun’s Light is compounded of all the primary Colours mixt in a due… (similarity 0.92)
• Newton subscribed to the doctrine that physical objects do not actually have the colors we ordinarily take them to possess, treating color as a sensation rather than a property of objects. (similarity 0.89)
• Philosophers examine whether whiteness is a color at all, distinguishing the physics of spectral reflectance from the perception of color, a divide that determines whether white counts as ‘a… (similarity 0.86)
• White perception can also arise from mixing just a few wavelengths, such as red, green and blue, or a pair of complementary colors like blue and yellow (similarity 0.85)
• White, physically, is light seen when all visible wavelengths combine; lacking hue, it is considered an achromatic color. (similarity 0.83)
• White is ‘the unblemished marker of purity’ and ‘the ideal foil — the contrast against which all other colors look more vibrant,’ while standing in stark opposition to black. (similarity 0.83)
• White has special status among colors, experienced as achromatic or an absence of hue, and its perception is not explained by a simple null point of cone-opponent mechanisms but involves… (similarity 0.83)
• Colors are not properties of objects but of perceptual processes, and one proposal identifies them with physical ‘spectral surface reflectance.’ (similarity 0.82)
• Spectral reflectance does not determine perceived color, since any achromatic paper can be made to appear any shade of white, gray, or black, the physics of reflectance diverging from color… (similarity 0.81)
• There is generally no fixed relation between spectral distribution and perceived color, though a surface does have a determinable color under fixed viewing conditions. (similarity 0.80)
• In visual perception a color is almost never seen as it physically is, making color the most relative medium in art. (similarity 0.80)
• Newton’s foundational Opticks encoded whiteness as the standard of light. (similarity 0.79)