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 $400 for the radium and charged $4,000 for a small dose
of the drug.

The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he

knew to borrow the money and tried every legal means,
but he could only get together about $2,000, 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, having tried every legal means, Heinz gets

anxious and considers breaking into the man's
store to steal the drug for his wife.
Should Heinz steal the drug? Why
or why not?

Kohlberg’s Moral Dilemma

Presented By: Karen D. Acuario
Kohlberg’s Theory
of
Moral Development
Words to remember:
• Moral is a lesson that
is learn from
something.

• Dilemma is a
situation that
requires a choice
between two equal
alternatives.
Words to remember:
• Moral dilemma can therefore be defined as a
situation that will often involve an apparent
mental conflict in which each in possible
course of action will breach some binding
moral principle.
• Moral reasoning is a study in psychology that
overlaps with moral philosophy. It is also
called Moral development.
 Who was Lawrence Kohlberg?
1927 - 1983
• Born in New York City in
1927.
• Kohlberg began studying
psychology as an
undergraduate at the
University of Chicago. In
one year, Kohlberg had
earned his B.A. in
psychology and continued
his education as a graduate
student at the University of
Chicago. In 1958, Kohlberg
earned his Ph.D
• Became fascinated by moral
development in children.
 Who was Lawrence Kohlberg?
1927 - 1983
• Kohlberg studied moral reasoning & development with much
of his work based on that of Jean Piaget and John Dewey. He
had a brief teaching position at Yale University before moving
onto Harvard in 1967.

• While in Central America in 1973, Kohlberg developed a rare

and unknown tropical disease which disabled him in many
ways and caused him to be severely depressed. In January of
1987, Kohlberg disappeared, his body was later found in a
swamp area.

• There is some suspicion that Kohlberg took his own life.

 Who was Lawrence Kohlberg?
1927 - 1983
• He was adopted and built on Piaget’s work, and set the
groundwork for the present debate within psychology and
moral development.

• Like Piaget, He believed that the children form ways of

thinking through their experiences which include
understandings of moral concepts such as justice, rights,
equality, and human welfare.

• Kohlberg followed the development of moral judgment and

extended the ages covered by Piaget, and found out the process
of attaining moral maturity took longer and occurred slower
that Piaget had thought.
 Who was Lawrence Kohlberg?
1927 - 1983
• While in Central America in 1973, Kohlberg developed a rare
and unknown tropical disease which disabled him in many
ways and caused him to be severely depressed. In January of
1987, Kohlberg disappeared, his body was later found in a
swamp area.

• If Piaget designed specific tasks (Piagetian tasks) to learn about

the cognitive development of children. Kohlberg utilized moral
dilemmas (Kohlberg Dilemmas).The case you read in the
activity part of this module was written for this module but
based on how Kohlberg wrote his dilemmas. Like Piaget, he
presented these dilemmas to the individuals in his research and
asked for their responses. He did not aim to judge whether the
responses were right and wrong. He was interested in analyzing
the moral reasoning behind the responses.
 Kohlberg's Stages
Pre-conventional level
• Stage 1: The punishment and obedience orientation
• Stage 2: The instrumental purpose orientation
Conventional level
• Stage 3: The "good boy-good girl" orientation
• Stage 4: The social-order-maintaining orientation
Post-conventional level
• Stage 5: The social-contract orientation
• Stage 6: The universal ethical principle orientation
 Levels of Moral Reasoning
• Preconventional—moral reasoning is
based on external rewards and
punishments
• Conventional—laws and rules are upheld
simply because they are laws and rules
• Postconventional—reasoning based on
personal moral standards
 PRECONVENTIONAL LEVEL
• Moral reasoning is FOCUS: Self
based on the AGES:4 – 10 yrs. old

consequence/result of Behavior motivated by

anticipation of pleasure or pain.
the act, not on the
whether the act itself
is good or bad.
• Punishments and
rewards dominate
the sense of right &
wrong
 Stage #1:Obedience and Punishment
Orientation

• One is motivated by fear of

punishment.
• He will act in order to avoid
punishment.

EX: The child won’t grab

the candy at the supermarket
for fear of being slapped
Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by
children of Stage 1

For stealing: If you let your wife die, you will

get into trouble. You’ll be blamed for not
spending your money to save her and there
will be an investigation of you and the druggist
for your wife’s death.

Against stealing: You should not steal the drug

because you’ll be caught and sent to jail if you
do. If you do get away, your conscience would
bother you thinking how the police would
catch you at any minute.
 Stage #2:Mutual Benefit..

• One is motivated to act by

the benefit that one may
obtain later.
• You scratch my back, I’ll
scratch yours.

EX: A mother tells her child:

“If you are quiet at the
mall, I will buy you an ice
cream.”
Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by
children of Stage 2

• For stealing: If you do happen to get caught

you could give the drug back and you
wouldn’t get much of a sentence. It wouldn’t
bother you much to serve a little jail term if
you have your wife when you get out.

• Against stealing : He may not get much of a

jail term if steals the drug, but his wife will
probably die before he gets out so it won’t
do him much good. If his wife dies, he
shouldn’t blame himself. It wasn’t his fault
that she has cancer.
 CONVENTIONAL LEVEL
FOCUS: Significant Others, "Tyranny of
• Moral reasoning is the They" (They say….
AGES:10 – 13 yrs. old
based on the
conventions or Acceptance of the rules and standards of
“norms” of society. one's group.

• This may include

approval of others,
• law and order.
 Stage #3:Social Approval
• One is motivated by what
others expect in behavior -
good boy, good girl. The
person acts because he/she
values how he/she appear to
others.
• He/she gives importance on
what people will think or
say.

EX: Volunteering at a
nursing home is the right
thing to do.
Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by children of
Stage 3

• For stealing: Nobody will think you’re bad if you steal

the drug but your family will think you’re an inhuman
husband if you don’t. If you let your wife die, you’ll
never be able to look anybody in the face again.
• Against stealing: It isn’t just the druggist who will
think you are a criminal, everyone else will, too. After
you steal it, you’ll feel bad thinking about how you’ve
brought dishonor on your family and yourself. You
won’t be able to face anyone again.
 Stage #4: Law and Order
One is motivated to act in order
to uphold law and order.
The person will follow the law
because it is the law.

EX: If you drink and drive

your endangering the lives
of others on the road, not
just yourself.
Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by children of
Stage 4

• For stealing: If you have any sense of honor, you won’t let
your wife die because you’re afraid to do the only thing
that will save her. You’ll always feel guilty that you caused
her death if you don’t do your duty to her.

• Against stealing: You’re desperate and you may not know

you’re doing wrong when you steal the drug. But you’ll
know you did wrong after you’re punished and sent to jail.
You’ll always feel guilty for your dishonesty and
lawbreaking
 THE POSTCONVENTIONAL
LEVEL

• Moral reasoning is based on enduring or

consistent principles. It is not just
recognizing the law, but the principles
behind the law.
 Stage #5: Social Contract
Laws that are wrong can be
changed.
One will act based on social
justice and the common good.

At stage 5, people begin to ask,

"What makes for a good
society?" They begin to think
about society considering the
rights and values that a
society ought to uphold.
Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by children of
Stage 5

• For stealing: The law wasn’t set up for these

circumstances. Taking the drug in this situation isn’t really
right, but it’s justified to do it.

• Against stealing: You can’t completely blame someone for

stealing but extreme circumstances don’t really justify
taking the law in your own hands. You can’t have everyone
stealing whenever they get desperate. The end may be
good, but the ends don’t justify the means
 Stage #6: Universal Ethical Principal
Orientation
This is associated with the
development od one’s
conscience.
Having a set of standards that
drives one to posses moral
responsibility to make societal
changes regardless of
consequences to oneself.

EX: Rosa Parks refused to sit in

the back of the bus because it
was an unjust law
discriminating against
African Americans.
Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by children of
Stage 6

• For stealing: This is a situation which forces him to

choose between stealing and letting his wife die. In a
situation where the choice must be made, it is morally
right to steal. He has to act in terms if the principle of
preserving and respecting life.

• Against stealing: Heinz is faced with the decision of

whether to consider the other people who need the drug
just as badly as his wife. Heinz ought to act not
according to his particular feelings toward his wife, but
considering the value of all the loves involved.
 Criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory
• Research has not supported Kohlberg’s belief that the
development of abstract thinking in adolescence
invariably leads people to the formation of idealistic
moral principles
• Some cross-cultural psychologists argue that
Kohlberg’s stories and scoring system reflect a
Western emphasis on individual rights, harm, and
justice that is not shared in many cultures.
• Kohlberg’s early research was conducted entirely
with male subjects, yet it became the basis for a
theory applied to both males and females.
Other Dilemmas to Consider