Abstract
For over a century, the question of the relation of language to thought has been
extensively discussed in the case of color categorization, where two main views prevail.
The relativist view claims that color categories are relative while the universalistic view
argues that color categories are universal. Relativists also argue that color categories are
linguistically determined, and universalists that they are perceptually determined.
Recently, the argument for the perceptual determination of color categorization has been
undermined, and the relativist view has regained some ground. This paper argues that
although the universalistic account of color categorization has been called into question,
this is not enough to establish relativism. Color categories can still be said to be universal
or particular, independent of the accounts of their universality or relativity. Because of its
polarization, the debate has disregarded some issues that are key in our understanding of
color categorization: the question of what a color category is and how to identify it.