Sometimes it is said that white is not a color but “the sum of all colors.” Surely this confusion comes from considering colors only those that appear in the spectrum. If these were the only colors, then magenta would neither be a color, nor do brown and other colors that do not have a specific wavelength, but are produced by a mixture of different wavelengths. Contradictorily, white often appears as “the absence of color.” When pigments are used on canvas or paper, white is the surface that remains unpigmented, unpainted, “uncoloured.” The same confusion often occurs with regard to black. Black is said to be “the sum of all colors” when a blackish stain is obtained from the mixture of various pigments. And black is said to be the “absence of color” when all light radiation is removed. The aim of this article is to argue that black and white are also colors, and so are grays. Because color is a visual sensation (product of the interaction of luminous radiation with pigmented objects and observers). “Pigment” and “color” are not synonymous; “light radiation” and “color” are not synonymous either. And just as we have red, green, blue, or yellow visual sensations, we also have visual sensations of white, black, or gray. This argument is supported by a survey where lay people and experts are asked about this issue, and by a bibliographical research that looks into texts and color order systems developed by theorists since the ancient times to nowadays.

中文翻译：

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黑色、白色和灰色：它们是颜色、没有颜色还是所有颜色的总和？

有时有人说，白色不是一种颜色，而是“所有颜色的总和”。当然，这种混淆来自于只考虑那些出现在光谱中的颜色。如果这些是唯一的颜色，那么洋红色既不是一种颜色，棕色和其他没有特定波长但由不同波长混合产生的颜色也不是一种颜色。矛盾的是，白色常常表现为“没有颜色”。当颜料用于画布或纸张时，白色是保持未着色、未上漆、“未着色”的表面。同样的混淆也经常发生在黑色方面。当从各种颜料的混合物中获得黑色污点时，黑色被称为“所有颜色的总和”。当所有的光辐射都被移除时，黑色被称为“没有颜色”。本文的目的是论证黑色和白色也是颜色，灰色也是。因为颜色是一种视觉感觉（光辐射与有色物体和观察者相互作用的产物）。“颜料”和“颜色”不是同义词；“光辐射”和“颜色”也不是同义词。正如我们有红色、绿色、蓝色或黄色的视觉感觉一样，我们也有白色、黑色或灰色的视觉感觉。这一论点得到了一项调查的支持，该调查向非专业人士和专家询问了这个问题，以及一项研究自古至今理论家开发的文本和颜色顺序系统的书目研究。“颜料”和“颜色”不是同义词；“光辐射”和“颜色”也不是同义词。正如我们有红色、绿色、蓝色或黄色的视觉感觉一样，我们也有白色、黑色或灰色的视觉感觉。这一论点得到了一项调查的支持，该调查向非专业人士和专家询问了这个问题，以及一项研究自古至今理论家开发的文本和颜色顺序系统的书目研究。“颜料”和“颜色”不是同义词；“光辐射”和“颜色”也不是同义词。正如我们有红色、绿色、蓝色或黄色的视觉感觉一样，我们也有白色、黑色或灰色的视觉感觉。这一论点得到了一项调查的支持，该调查向非专业人士和专家询问了这个问题，以及一项研究自古至今理论家开发的文本和颜色顺序系统的书目研究。