MORAL DELIBERATION

The American Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg ( 1927 – 1987 ) –

who theorized the moral development happen is six stages.

 The first level is what he called pre-conventional and it

corresponds to how infants and young children think.
• The first stages of reasoning centers around obedience and the
avoidance of punishments to a young child mind.
 The second level of moral development according to kohlberg is
the conventional since this is the age in which older children,
adolescence and young adults learn to conform to due
expectations of society.
 The third and highest level of moral development for Kohlberge
is what he called post – conventional since the morally
responsible agent recognizes that what is “good or right” is not
reducible to following the rules of one’s group.

FEELINGS IN MORAL DELIBERATION

 Aristotle precisely points out that moral virtue goes beyond the
mere act of intellectually identifying the right thing to do.
• Instead, it is the condition one’s character by which the agent is
able to manage her emotions or feelings.
Note that “ Aristotle” does not say, “Remove all feelings.” Instead,
he sees that cultivating one’s character lies in learning to manage
one’s feelings. The emotions are, as reason itself, part of what
makes one human being. There is a popular Filipino saying. “ tulak
ng bibig; kabig ng dibdib” (literally, “The mouth says one thing, but
the heart derives from you to do another thing.)

MORAL PROBLEMS
a) The fist one is a situation in which we need to clarify whether a
certain action is morally right or wrong.
 MORAL PROBLEMS
a) The fist one is a situation in which we need to clarify whether a certain
action is morally right or wrong.

b) The second type involves determining whether a particular action in question

can be identified with a generally accepted ethical or unethical action.

c) The third type points to the presence of an ethical dilemma. Dilemmas are
ethical situations in which there are competing values that seem to have
equal worth.
 THE VALUE OF STUDYING ETHICAL THEORIES OR
FRAMEWORKS

 The Ethical theories or Frameworks may serve as guideposts,

given that they are the best attempts to understand morality that
history of human thought has to offer.