Kohlberg's theory of moral development outlines six stages within three levels - pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. At the pre-conventional level, children view morality in terms of obedience to rules and self-interest. At the conventional level, morality is defined by social norms and laws. At the post-conventional level, individuals reason about morality based on ethical principles of justice and human rights. Kohlberg studied moral dilemmas like the Heinz dilemma to understand moral reasoning. His theory provides insight but has been criticized for overemphasizing justice and not accounting for cultural differences in morality.

1. Moral
Reasoning
V. Joseph Xavier sj

2. Introduction
• This area will examine process of
one’s moral standards and the
reasoning process by which we
apply our standards to the
situations and issues we fact.

3. How do
Children
Develop
Morality?
How exactly do children develop morality? This question
has fascinated parents, religious leaders, and
philosophers for ages, but moral development has also
become a hot issue in both psychology and education.
Do parental or societal influences play a greater role in
moral development?
Do all kids develop morality in similar ways?
One of the best known theories exploring some of these
basic questions was developed by a psychologist named
Lawrence Kohlberg.

4. Jean Piaget
• His work modified and expanded
upon Jean Piaget's previous work to
form a theory that explained how
children develop moral reasoning.
• Piaget described a two-stage process of
moral development, while Kohlberg's
theory of moral development outlined
six stages within three different levels.
• Kohlberg extended Piaget's theory,
proposing that moral development is a
continual process that occurs
throughout the lifespan.

5. The Heinz
Dilemma
• Kohlberg based his theory upon research
and interviews with groups of young
children.
• A series of moral dilemmas were
presented to these participants and they
were also interviewed to determine the
reasoning behind their judgments of
each scenario.
• The following is one example of the
dilemmas Kohlberg presented"

6. 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.

7. Heinz Steals the Drug
• 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).

8. Heinz Steals the Drug
• Kohlberg was not interested so much in the answer to the question
of whether Heinz was wrong or right, but in the reasoning for each
participant's decision. The responses were then classified into various
stages of reasoning in his theory of moral development.

9. Moral
Development
• Many assume that our values are
formed during childhood and does
not change after that. The truth is
that as we mature, we change our
values in a deeper way. The ability
to deal with moral issues also
develop as we move through life.
• There are identifiable stages of
growth in moral judgment as well.
• As we grow, we internalize the
moral judgments. As adults, we
learn to be critical about the
conventional moral standards.
Then we revise them when they
are found to be inadequate.

10. Kohlberg’s Theory
of Moral
Development
• There are six identifiable
stages in the development of
a person’s ability to deal with
moral issues. He has grouped
these stages of moral
development into three
levels, each containing two
stages. The second level is an
advanced and organized form
of the general perspective of
that level.

11. Pre Conventional
Stage

12. Kohlberg’s
Theory of
Moral
Development
–
Preconvention
stage
• Pre conventional stages: The child
can apply the labels good, bad,
right and wrong. It is seen in terms
of the pleasure or painful
consequences of actions or what
authority figures demand. The
child may not understand the
meaning of what is wrong or right
with things. It can see the situation
from his/her own point of view and
so his/her primary motives are self-
centered. Eg. If the child may say
that stealing is wrong. If asked
why, it will say the if I steal mummy
will beat me.

13. Kohlberg’s
Theory of
Moral
Development
- Stage one
• Punishment and obedience
orientation: The demands of
authority figures or the pleasant or
painful consequences of an act
define right and wrong. The child’s
reason for doing the right thing is
to avoid punishment or defer to the
power of authorities. There is little
awareness that others have needs
and desires like one’s own.

14. Kohlberg’s
Theory of
Moral
Development
– Stage Two
• Instrumental and Relative
Orientation: Right actions become
those through which the child
satisfies his/her own needs. The
child is now aware that others have
needs and desires like te/she does
and uses this knowledge to bet
what he/she wants. The child
behaves in the right way towards
others, so others later will od the
same towards him/her

15. Conventional
Stage

16. Kohlberg’s
Theory of
Moral
Development
– Level Two -
Conventional
stages
• The older child or younger
adolescent sees moral right and
wrong in terms of living up to the
conventional norms of his or her
family, peer group or society. The
young person at this level is loyal to
the groups and their norms. He
sees right or wrong in terms of
“what my friends think”, “what my
family taught me”, “what Indians
think "or “what law says”. The
person has the ability to take the
point of view of other similar
people in his groups.

17. Kohlberg’s
Theory of
Moral
Development
– Level Two -
Conventional
stages
• Stage three: Interpersonal
concordance orientation: Good
behavior is seen as living up to the
expectations of those for whom the
person feels loyalty, affection, and
trust such as family and friends.
Right action is conforming ot what’s
expected in one’s role as a good
son, good daughter, good friend
and so on. At this stage, the young
person wants to be liked and
thought well of.

18. Kohlberg’s
Theory of
Moral
Development
– Level Two -
Conventional
stages
• Stage four: Law and order
orientation: Right and wrong at
this stage are based on loyalty to
one’s nation or society. The law
and norms of society should be
followed so society will continue to
function well. The person can see
other people as parts of a larger
society system that defines
individual roles and obligations,
and he can distinguish these
obligations from what his personal
relationships require.

19. Post Conventional
Stage

20. Kohlberg’s
Theory of
Moral
Development
– Level Three
– Post-
Conventional
stages
• The person no longer accepts the
values and norms of his/her group.
Instead, the person tries to see right
and wrong from an impartial point of
view that takes everyone’s interests
into account. The person can question
the laws and values of his/her society
and judge them in terms of moral
principles that he/she believes can be
justified to any reasonable person.
When an adult is asked why something
is right or wrong, the person can
respond in terms of what is “fair for
everyone” or in terms of “justice, or
“human rights” or “society’s well
being”

21. Kohlberg’s
Theory of
Moral
Development
– Level Three
– Post-
Conventional
stages
• Stage Five: Social Contract
Orientation: The person becomes
aware that people have conflicting
moral views, but believes that all
moral values and moral norms are
relative and that, apart from a
democratic consensus, all moral
views should be tolerated.

22. Kohlberg’s
Theory of
Moral
Development
– Level Three
– Post-
Conventional
stages
• Stage Six: Universal moral
principles orientation: Right action
is defined in terms of moral
principles chosen because of their
reasonableness, universality, and
consistency. These are general
moral principles that deal with
justice, social welfare, human
rights, respect for human dignity or
treating people as ends in
themselves. The person sees these
principles as the criteria for
evaluating all socially accepted
norms and values.

23. Usefulness of
Kohlberg
• It is useful as it helps to understand
how the moral capacities develop
and reveal how one may mature in
one’s understanding of the moral
standards.
• He found some get stuck at one of
the early stages throughout their
lives.

24. Consequences
• Those who stay at the pre-conventional level continue to see
right and wrong in the egocentric terms of avoiding
punishment and doing what powerful authority figures say.
• Those who reach the conventional level but never get past it
continue defining right and wrong in terms of the
conventional norms and expectations of their social groups
or of their nation and its laws.
• Those who reach the post-conventional level and take a
rational and critical look at the conventional moral standards
they have been raised to hold will come to define right and
wrong in terms of moral principles they have chosen
because they are reasonable.

25. Importance of Kohlberg
• He believes that the moral standards of people at the later
stages of development is better than the reasoning of those
at earlier stages.

26. Criticism of
Kohlberg
• Does moral reasoning necessarily lead
to moral behaviour? Kohlberg's theory
is concerned with moral thinking, but
there is a big difference between
knowing what we ought to do versus
our actual actions.
• Is justice the only aspect of moral
reasoning we should consider? Critics
have pointed out that Kohlberg's
theory of moral development
overemphasizes the concept as justice
when making moral choices. Factors
such as compassion, caring, and other
interpersonal feelings may play an
important part in moral reasoning.

27. Criticism of
Kohlberg
• Does Kohlberg's theory
overemphasize Western
philosophy? Individualist
cultures emphasize personal rights
while collectivist cultures stress the
importance of society and
community. Eastern, collectivist
cultures may have different moral
outlooks that Kohlberg's theory
does not account for.

28. How Kohlberg Saw Heinz
• Stage one (obedience): Heinz should not steal the medicine
because he will consequently be put in prison which will
mean he is a bad person.
• Or: Heinz should steal the medicine because it is only worth
$200 and not how much the druggist wanted for it; Heinz
had even offered to pay for it and was not stealing anything
else.

29. How Kohlberg Saw Heinz
• Stage two (self-interest): Heinz should steal the medicine
because he will be much happier if he saves his wife, even if
he will have to serve a prison sentence.
• Or: Heinz should not steal the medicine because prison is an
awful place, and he would more likely languish in a jail cell
than over his wife's death.

30. How Kohlberg Saw Heinz
• Stage three (conformity): Heinz should steal the medicine
because his wife expects it; he wants to be a good husband.
• Or: Heinz should not steal the drug because stealing is bad
and he is not a criminal; he has tried to do everything he can
without breaking the law, you cannot blame him.

31. How Kohlberg Saw Heinz
• Stage four (law-and-order): Heinz should not steal the
medicine because the law prohibits stealing, making it
illegal.
• Or: Heinz should steal the drug for his wife but also take the
prescribed punishment for the crime as well as paying the
druggist what he is owed. Criminals cannot just run around
without regard for the law; actions have consequences.

32. How Kohlberg Saw Heinz
• Stage five (human rights): Heinz should steal the medicine
because everyone has a right to choose life, regardless of the
law.
• Or: Heinz should not steal the medicine because the scientist
has a right to fair compensation. Even if his wife is sick, it
does not make his actions right.

33. How Kohlberg Saw Heinz
• Stage six (universal human ethics): Heinz should steal the
medicine, because saving a human life is a more
fundamental value than the property rights of another
person.
• Or: Heinz should not steal the medicine, because others may
need the medicine just as badly, and their lives are equally
significant.