From qualitative differences to a continuum of development: commentary on Leslie Smith's epistemological principles for developmental psychology

In his article Epistemological principles for developmental psychology Lesl ie Smith helps to re-open some of the key issues Piaget explored through hi s genetic epistemology. Smith shows the important parallels between logicia n Gottlieb Frege's understanding of rational thought, and the way in which Piaget developed such notions in his own theory. But while Frege's theory h elps set the parameters for whether thought can be judged as rational, or i f it even should be judged as rational, it also shows the logicians' disdai n for exploring anything resembling development of rationality. Thus Frege might have an important, but necessarily mediated impact on the field of hu man development. Piaget's carefully crafted theory of epistemological devel opment potentially serves as such a mediating device. It can be argued that Piaget crafted together arguments of logicians such as Frege, and epistemo logists such as Levy-Bruhl, to develop his extraordinary achievement of a g enetic epistemology that leads to an understanding of the human condition. One of Piaget's accomplishments was to develop a continuum out of the logic ians' dichotomy between non-logical and logical in which the non-rational f lows into the rational. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.