During the XIX century in the fields of physiological optics, there was a strong controversy between Hermann von Helmholtz and Ewald Hering. In this field, several subjects demanded attention, among them, color perception. To approach this phenomenon, both Helmholtz and Hering suggested different theories about the physiological correlate of color perception and different color spaces to represent the relations between colors. In this article, I will defend that the controversy between the two authors can be understood as a difference between styles of reasoning that come from different presuppositions. Particularly, I would like to suggest that the disagreements could be linked to discussions about how vital phenomena should be studied in the context of the romantic movements in the fields of medicine, biology and physiology in Germany during the first half of the XIX century.
