Why do rationalists argue that learning color concepts may require innate mental capacities?

Rationalists argue that learning color concepts requires innate mental capacities because the process of acquiring these concepts through experience alone is logically insufficient.1

Empiricists suggest that children form concepts like "red" by abstracting from a series of observed examples. However, rationalists point out several flaws in this view:1

• The Circularity Problem: One cannot identify an object as an instance of "red" unless one already possesses the concept of red.1
• The Generalization Problem: Any set of examples provided to a child is necessarily limited and represents only a fraction of the possible shades or instances of a color. Because these examples are limited, a child could theoretically abstract or generalize from them in many different ways.1
• The Selection Problem: Given that multiple ways of generalizing are possible, it is unclear how a child consistently selects the "correct" concept that aligns with the usage of the adult community.1

To account for how a child successfully identifies the correct concept despite these limitations, rationalists contend that at least part of the concept must be innate.1