Right and Wrong

2. • Moral Development

3. • Morality: Our understanding of the difference between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.
Some people believe in absolute morality: the idea that moral rules apply to all people in all
situations at all times in history. They might argue that killing another person is always wrong in
every situation. Some people believe in relative morality: the idea that moral rules are relative to our
personal or cultural environments.They might argue that each individual society or era of history
determines what is morally right and wrong. We are talking about morality in this unit because
morality can be thought of as a force that motivates our behavior.

4. • 3. Morality & Freud From Freud’s perspective, motivation looks like this: ID Desire to seek
pleasure and avoid pain SUPEREGO Desire to be a good human being (morality) INTERNAL
STRUGGLE

5. • 4. Morality & Maslow Maslow saw morality as related to self-actualization. From his perspective,
becoming a morally good human being is a necessary part of fulfilling your highest potential.

6. • 5. A poor man named Heinz has a wife who is dying, and needs a newly developed drug that will
cure her. The drug is very expensive and Heinz has no health insurance, so every day, Heinz crowd
funds to raise the money. However, he fails to earn enough to pay for the medicine. The company
CEO charges ten times what the drug cost him to make, so Heinz decides to ask him if he can give
one dose away for free. The CEO refuses to give the drug away for free because “research and
development is expensive and the company needs to make a profit,” he says. One day, Heinz
decides to break into the hospital pharmacy and steal the drug. Warm up: Write a letter to Heinz (5
sentences minimum) explaining why his choice was either RIGHT or WRONG, and explain WHY
you believe this.

7. • 6. Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) was a psychologist
who created a theory of moral development: it describes how one’s sense of right and wrong
changes with age. How do we develop a sense of justice? How do we learn to make moral
judgements?

8. • 7. “Kohlberg Dilemmas” In order to study moral development, Kohlberg created situations (like
the Heinz story) which he called “dilemmas,” and read them to people of all ages. He took their
responses and categorized them into three levels of morality (6 stages total: two in each level)
based on certain characteristics that he noticed.

9. • 8. Three Levels of Morality Breaking the rules is always bad. (or) Acting in self- interest because
my individual needs are the greatest good. Follow the rules because if you don’t, others will think
badly of you. (or) The rules are in place for the benefit of all: breaking the rules leads to chaos.
Rules are created by humans, and humans aren’t perfect; thus, rules are not always good ones. (or)
I believe in a higher moral standard than that which is dictated by society. Level One Level Two
Level Three

10. • 9. Stage 1: Obedience & Punishment Sense of morality is based on avoiding external
punishments.Thus, an action is perceived as wrong only if the person is punished. People in this
stage are overly trusting of authority figures (such as parents, governments, holy texts), and will
often say something is right or wrong “because authority figure says so.” Level 1: Preconventional
Morality Stealing is bad because the law says so. You will get in trouble if you steal!

11. • 10. Stage 2: Self-Interest Sense of morality is based on whatever the individual believes is in their
best interest (but in a narrow way which does not consider one's reputation or relationships to
groups of people). Level 1: Preconventional Morality Stealing is ok if it allows you to get what you
want.

12. • 11. Level One: “The law is always right” or “Acting in self-interest” ( Video )

13. • 12. Stage 3: Accord & Conformity Sense of morality is based on social standards and how one will
be perceived by others. Being approved of and respected by others is considered important
because it is self-beneficial. Level 2: Conventional Morality Stealing is a bad idea because if people
find out, they will think you’re untrustworthy, or a criminal.

14. • 13. Stage 4: Social Order-Maintaining Sense of morality is based on the fact that following laws
provides us with a stable, safe, and functioning society. If one person breaks a law, everyone could
potentially break it, creating danger and chaos.Thus, following laws and the orders of an outside
authority is beneficial for everyone. Level 2: Conventional Morality Stealing is bad because if
everyone were allowed to steal, no one’s property would be safe.There would be no social order.

15. • 14. Level Two: “Act in a way that other people will approve of” or “The law benefits and protects
society”

16. • 15. Stage 5: Social Contract Understanding Sense of morality is based on an understanding that
each society creates it own values, laws, rights, and moral standards. Laws are understood to be
social contracts between the governors and the governed: people are capable of making bad laws,
and any laws that do not promote general welfare should be removed or changed. Level 3:
Postconventional Morality If the rules cause an injustice to happen, perhaps the rules need to be
changed, or perhaps you should defy the rules.

17. • 16. Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles Sense of morality is based on an understanding that
goodness is not defined by any particular society or set of laws, but good and moral behavior is
something universal which transcends human society. People should not act based on laws,
punishments, self-interest, or societal interest, but should only act based on what is just and right.
Level 3: Postconventional Morality Kohlberg actually found very few people in the world who
operate at “stage 6” morality. He decided that stage 6 is not very realistic.

18. • 17. Level Three: “The law is not always moral” or “There is a universal definition of good beyond
what an individual society defines it to be”

19. • 18. Moral Level In Favor of Stealing Against Stealing Level 1: Preconventional Morality (Interests
of the individual are considered in terms of rewards and punishments) “It was right to steal, because
he might have been blamed for the death of his wife.” “It was wrong to steal, because he might be
caught and sent to jail. If he doesn't get caught, he might spend his whole life in fear thinking of how
the police could catch him at any minute”. Level 2: Conventional Morality (Interests of the individual
are considered in terms of how others perceive them and how they act as good members of
society) “It was right to steal, because if his wife had died he would never be able to face other
people again. He will be thought of as a bad husband and a bad person.” “It was wrong to steal
because he will feel bad about how he brought dishonor on himself and his family by not following
the laws. Everyone must follow laws in order to keep society orderly.” Level 3: Postconventional
Morality (Individuals follow moral standards that are greater than those of any particular society) “It
was right to steal, because life is more important than property. What is truly wrong in this situation
is that society does not agree: the law favors property over life.” “It was wrong to steal because he
will always condemn himself for not living up to his own standards of honesty.”

20. • 19. Heinz Dilemma Part 2: Kohlberg asked these follow up questions to his participants after
reading them the story: 1. Was it right for Heinz to steal? 2. Would your answer change if the dying
woman was a stranger? 3. If poor people are dying, should the greedy CEO be sued and brought to
court for overpricing his product?

21. • 20. Problems with Kohlberg’s Theory: Does moral behavior actually match moral thoughts?
People have pointed out that Kohlberg’s scenario is hypothetical: the way people answer the
question may not be how they would act in real life. Are there distinct stages to moral development,
or do different situations result in different types of moral choices? Some adults may make a level
three decision in one scenario, but fall back to a level one decision in another. Is justice the most
important moral principle? Some argue that compassion is more important. 1 2 3

22. • 21. Review: Breaking the rules is always bad. (or) Acting in self- interest because my individual
needs are the greatest good. Follow the rules because if you don’t, others will think badly of you.
(or) The rules are in place for the benefit of all: breaking the rules leads to chaos. Rules are created
by humans, and humans aren’t perfect; thus, rules are not always good ones. (or) I believe in a
higher moral standard than that which is dictated by society. Level One Level Two Level Three

23.  22. Group Activity: Which brother’s action was worse? Why?
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