Objectivity, perceptual constancy, and teleology in young children

Abstract

Can young children such as 3-year-olds represent the world objectively? Some prominent developmental psychologists — such as Perner and Tomasello — assume so. I argue that this view is susceptible to a prima facie powerful objection: To represent objectively, one must be able to represent not only features of the entities represented but also features of objectification itself, which 3-year-olds cannot do yet. Drawing on Burge's work on perceptual constancy, I provide a response to this objection and motivate a distinction between three different kinds of objectivity. This distinction helps advance current research on both objectivity and teleological action explanations in young children.