Full Idea
The 'homunculus fallacy' attempts to explain what is involved in a subject's being related to objects in the external world by appealing to the existence of an inner situation which recapitulates the essential features of the original situation.
Gist of Idea
The Homunculus Fallacy explains a subject perceiving objects by repeating the problem internally
Source
Gareth Evans (Molyneux's Question [1978], p.397)
Book Reference
Evans,Gareth: 'Collected Papers' [OUP 1985], p.397
A Reaction
This is obviously right, but we aren't forced to settle for direct realism. Inner perception may be very different, or we may employ the idea of Dennett and Lycan, that the homunculi don't regress, they deteriorate steadily down into mechanisms.