Transcript Theory of Moral Development

Lawrence Kohlberg
 Kohlberg
worked on these concepts while a
postgraduate student at University of
Chicago in 1958.
 Expanded Jean Piaget’s work on moral
development.
 Research centered on children

3 stages, 6 levels
 Critics
blame his system as focusing too much
on concept of justice to the exclusion of
other interpersonal emotions.

Also, does moral reasoning lead to moral
behavior?
Pre-Conventional Morality
 Children
and adults capable of this level of
reasoning.
 Rules are fixed and absolute
 Obey because disobeying brings disapproval
and punishment
 Focus on self: egocentrism
 Deference to superior authority
 Worse the punishment, worse the act
 “I’m not doing that because the last time I
did that, I was grounded for a month.”
 Still
individual focused: egocentric
 Consider other points of view, but in relation
to how they serve the individual (self).
 Reciprocity possible, but only if also selfserving.

“I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.”
 Moral
relativism
 Some acknowledgment of intrinsic respect or
loyalty, but secondary to personal gain

“What’s in it for me?”
Boy, age 6-7?
“maybe they had children and he might need
someone at home to look after them. But
maybe he shouldn't steal it because they
might put him in prison for more years than
he could stand.” (Colby and Kauffman. 1983,
p. 300)
Conventional
 “Good
boy/good girl” orientation
 Individual must live up to social
expectations, play the proper social role
 Emphasis on conformity
 Personal choice influences relationships
 Approval and disapproval reflects society’s
acceptance of the individual behavior
 Respect and gratitude are important
 “Golden Rule”
Boy, age 13
“It was really the druggist's fault, he was
unfair, trying to overcharge and letting
someone die. Heinz loved his wife and
wanted to save her. I think anyone would. I
don't think they would put him in jail. The
judge would look at all sides, and see that
the druggist was charging too much.”
(Kohlberg, 1963, p. 25)
 Individual
considers society as a whole
 Live outside the self
 Focus on doing one’s duty to preserve order
 Preserve law and order
 Do what is right because it is right
 Beyond the need for social approval (Stage3)
 Morality dictated by outside force
 If one person misbehaves, then everyone
will. Therefore…
I don't want to sound like Spiro Agnew, law
and order and wave the flag, but if
everybody did as he wanted to do, set up his
own beliefs as to right and wrong, then I
think you would have chaos. The only thing I
think we have in civilization nowadays is
some sort of legal structure which people are
sort of bound to follow. [Society needs] a
centralizing framework. (Gibbs et al., 1983,
pp. 140-41)
Post-Conventional
 Consider
different values, opinions, and
beliefs of other people
 Rules of law important, but people should
agree (consensus driven? Majority?
Plurality?)
 Democratic thinking / compromise / legal
rights
 Different cultures/beliefs respected and
valued.
 Laws = social contracts, not rigid edicts
 Utilitarianism
“It is the husband's duty to save his wife. The
fact that her life is in danger transcends
every other standard you might use to judge
his action. Life is more important than
property.”
“Usually the moral and legal standpoints
coincide. Here they conflict. The judge
should weight the moral standpoint more
heavily but preserve the legal law in
punishing Heinz lightly.” (Kohlberg, 1976, p.
38)
 Universal
ethical principles (Jung?)
 Internalized moral code based on justice
 Can weigh internal code against society, and
reconcile, even if it conflicts
 Justice is personal concept AND universal
concept
 Duty to disobey an unjust law (legal rights
unnecessary, social K unneeded)
 Categorical imperative (no hypos)
 Action not a means, but an end
 Very difficult to apply consistently
Heinz Steals the Drug
"In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of
cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might
save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the
same town had recently discovered. The drug was
expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten
times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $200 for
the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the
drug.
The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he
knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together
about $ 1,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the
druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it
cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: "No, I
discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it."
So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to
steal the drug-for his wife. Should the husband have done
that?" (Kohlberg, 1963).
Stage 1: Don’t steal the medicine. You will be
punished. This will make you a bad person.
 Stage 2: Steal the medicine b/c he will be so
much happier if he saves his wife—even if he
goes to jail. Or, don’t steal the medicine, b/c
jail will be really hard on him and better to be
with his wife than in jail.
 Stage 3: Heinz should steal the medicine
because he wants to be a good husband in his
wife’s eyes. Or don’t steal the medicine b/c he
doesn’t want the people who know him to think
he is a criminal.

Stage 4: Heinz should not steal the medicine.
This is against the law, and breaking the law is
wrong.
 Stage 5: Every human has a right to life—
fundamentally. It shouldn’t matter if it’s against
the law to steal the medicine. Preserving life is
more important. Or, don’t steal the medicine
b/c this deprives the company who made it from
fair compensation.
 Stage 6: Steal the medicine b/c value of life is
morally more important than a property right.
Or don’t steal the medicine b/c there are others
who might need it and can pay for it, and
consequently, they are more deserving of it.


Jonathan Haidt: Social Intuitionism
Morals are more intuitive than cognitively reasoned.
 Reasoning is a post hoc argument


Carol Gilligan

Boys and girls form different moralities



Girls: more compassion, caring
Boys: more legalistic, societal-oriented
“Adolescence is a period in which, although much of your
moral thinking is developed, you may not choose to
follow the voice in your head solely due to the decisions
being made around you by your peers. Studies have
shown that although teenagers have a set of standards,
they may cross these in order to fit into the crowd.”
http://www.netplaces.com/psychology/humandevelopment-adolescence/cognitivedevelopment-how-adolescents-think.htm
 http://www3.nd.edu/~wcarbona/Haidt%202001.
pdf
 http://psychology.about.com/od/developmental
psychology/a/kohlberg.htm
 http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.h
tm
 W.C. Crain. (1985). Theories of Development.
Prentice-Hall. pp. 118-136.
 Haidt, Jonathan. The Righteous Mind. Pantheon:
2012.
