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Full Idea
What we should claim is that being red consists in looking red.
Gist of Idea
Being red simply consists in looking red
Source
Colin McGinn (Subjective View: sec qualities and indexicals [1983], 2)
Book Ref
McGinn,Colin: 'The Subjective View' [OUP 1983], p.6
A Reaction
A very nice simple account. There is more to being square than looking square (which may not even guarantee that it is square). That's the primary/secondary distinction in a nut shell. But red things don't look red in the dark. Sufficient, not necessary.
Related Idea
Idea 22414 You don't need to know how a square thing looks or feels to understand squareness [McGinn]