KOHLBERG’S MORAL
MORAL COURAGE
DEVELOPMENT
The gradual development of an individual’s concept
of:
 right or wrong,
 conscience,
 religious values,
 social attitudes,
 and certain behavior.
Process by which children learn their moral beliefs and
develop moral reasoning for making decisions
regarding what is right or wrong
KOHLBERG’S THEORY OF
MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Lawrence Kohlberg
(October 25, 1927 – January 19, 1987)
 He was an American psychologist.
 He served as a professor in:
 the Psychology Department at the
University of Chicago
 and at the Graduate School of Education at
Harvard University.
 He started as a developmental psychologist and
then moved to the field of moral education.
 He was particularly well-known for his theory of
moral development which he popularized
 through research studies conducted at Harvard's
Center for Moral Education.
FROM PIAGET TO KOHLBERG
 Kohlberg agreed with Piaget theory in principle
but wanted to develop his ideas further.
 Kohlberg studied the moral reasoning as an
aspect of cognitive development that has to do
with the way an individual reasons about moral
decisions.
 Kohlberg used Piaget’s storytelling technique to
tell people stories involving moral dilemmas.
 Both theories are stage theory.
DILEMMAS
In each case, he presented a choice to be considered, for
example, between the rights of some authority and the
needs of some deserving individual who is being unfairly
treated.
THE HEINZ DILEMMA
In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind
of cancer.
- There was one drug that the doctor’s 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
desperate and considers breaking into the man's
store to steal the drug for his wife.
KOHLBERG ASKED A SERIES OF
QUESTIONS SUCH AS:
1. Should Heinz have stolen the drug? Why or why not?
2. Would it change anything if Heinz did not love his
wife?
3. What if the person dying was a stranger, would it
make any difference?
4. Should the police arrest the chemist for murder if the
woman died?
By studying the answers from children of different ages
to these questions Kohlberg hoped to discover the ways
in which moral reasoning changed as people grew older.
  The sample comprised 72 Chicago boys aged 10–
16 years, 58 of whom were followed up at three-
yearly intervals for 20 years.
 Each boy was given a 2-hour interview based on
the ten dilemmas.
 What Kohlberg was mainly interested in was not
whether the boys judged the action right or
wrong, but the reasons given for the decision.
 He found that these reasons tended to change as
the children got older.
 He demonstrated that people progressed in their
moral reasoning through a series of three levels.
 Each level is based on the degree to which a
person conforms to conventional standards of
society.
THE CAPACITY TO REASON
GROWS
From Self-centeredness To Other-centeredness
And
From Reliance on external authority To Fidelity to
internalized values
1. PRE-CONVENTIONAL MORAL REASONING
 Judgment based solely on a person’s own needs
and perceptions
 Moral reasoning is based on external rewards
and punishments.
 Characterized by the desire to avoid punishment
or gain reward.
 Typically, children under the age of 10
2. CONVENTIONAL MORAL REASONING
 Expectations of society and law are taken into
account.
 Laws and rules are upheld simply because they
are laws and rules
 Primary concern is to fit in and play the role of a
good citizen
 People have a strong desire to follow the rules
and laws.
 Typical of most adults.
3. POST-CONVENTIONAL MORAL
REASONING
 Judgment based on abstract, personal principles
not necessarily defined by society’s laws.
 Reasoning based on personal moral Standards
 Characterized by references to universal ethical
principles that represent protecting the rights of
all people
 Most adults do not reach this level.
STAGE 1: PUNISHMENT-
OBEDIENCE ORIENTATION
 Children see rules as fixed and absolute.
 They obey rules in order to avoid punishment.
 They determine a sense of right and wrong by
what is punished and what is not punished
 They obey superior authority and allow that
authority to make the rules, especially if that
authority has the power to inflict pain.
HOW CAN I AVOID PUNISHMENT?
• Not law or justice, but cost to me.
• Conscience = self-protection.
• A focus on direct consequences.
• Negative actions will result in punishments.
STAGE 2: SELF-INTEREST
ORIENTATION
• Children recognize that there is not just one right
view that is handed down by the authorities.
Different individuals have different viewpoints.
• Children account for individual points of view,
and judge actions based on how they serve
individual needs.
STAGE 3: “GOOD BOY-GOOD
GIRL” ORIENTATION”
• People attempt to live up to the social roles and
expectations of the family and community.
• Good behavior means having good motives and
interpersonal feelings such as love, empathy,
trust, and concern for others.
• They follow rules or do what other would want
so that they win his approval.
 • Maintaining the affection and approval of
friends and relatives motivates good behavior.
STAGE 6: UNIVERSAL
PRINCIPLES ORIENTATION
STAGE 4: LAW AND • People follow these internalized moral principles
MAINTAINING THE SOCIAL of justice that are higher than those represented
ORDER ORIENTATION by social rules and customs, so these moral
• People begin to consider society as a whole principles take precedence over laws that might
• when making judgments. conflict with them.
• The focus is on maintaining social order by: • For example, they are conscientious objectors,
 resisting personal pressures, - following the and refuse to be drafted because they are
rules, morally opposed to war.
 doing one’s duty, - obeying laws, • They are willing to accept the consequences for
 and respecting authority without question disobedience or violating the social
because without laws, society would be - rule they have rejected.
chaos. - They suggest that we need to:
(a) protect certain individual rights,
(b) and settle disputes through democratic processes.
Do you think
Marijuana, abortion, homosexuality, strip clubs These internalized moral principles of justice are:
.... are good just because they are legal now?  The human dignity (of all people as individuals)
Or Putang ina. Is it good to hear? is sacred,
 The principles of justice are universal; they apply
to all,
STAGE 5: SOCIAL CONTRACT  Treat the claims of all parties in an impartial
ORIENTATION manner,
• People begin to think about society in a very  Profound respect for sanctity of human life,
theoretical way, stepping back from their own  All humans have value, - Nonviolence,
society and considering the rights and values  Equality.
that a society ought to uphold, to answer this
question "What makes for a good society?"
• They then evaluate existing societies in terms of
these prior considerations.
• They account for the differing values, opinions,
and beliefs of other people, and respect the
rights of the minority especially the rights of the
individual, because they believe in consensus
(everyone agrees), rather than in majority rule,
and they are motivated by the belief in the
greatest amount of good for the greatest
number of people.
• They obey the law, until they can change it
through the system (by democratic means), if:
 it fails to promote general welfare, or it
violates ethical principles,
 there were better alternatives,
 and members of the society agree upon
these standards.