The many faces of belief: reflections on Fodorʹs and the childʹs theory of mind

I contrast Fodorʹs theory of the childʹs Very Simple Theory of Mind (VSTM), which differs from adult folk psychology only in that it recognizes fewer intentional objects, with my view that childrenʹs concepts cross-cut the adult conceptual system. More specifically, young children do not distinguish between the state of affairs a belief is about and how this state of affairs is thought of, which puts a severe limit on their understanding of belief as distinct from pretence. The two different positions are evaluated against empirical data on childrenʹs developing “theory of mind”.