Kohlberg expanded on Piaget's work to develop a theory of moral development with six stages. The theory holds that moral reasoning develops progressively through these stages and involves making judgments on moral dilemmas. Kohlberg studied how individuals reason through dilemmas like the Heinz dilemma. While influential, the theory has been criticized for being too focused on male subjects and Western ideals of justice. It also does not fully account for inconsistencies in moral judgments or the difference between reasoning and intuitive responses.

2. MORAL
DEVELOPMENT
PRESENTED BY
PARAMITA BHUNIA& KEYA SAMANTA

3. INTRODUCTION
• Lawrence Kohlberg expanded on the earlier work of cognitive theorist
Jean Piaget to explain the moral development of children. Kohlberg
believed that moral development, like cognitive development, follows
a series of stages.
• Kohlberg began work on this topic while being a psychology graduate
student at the University of Chicago in 1958 and expanded upon the
theory throughout his life.

6. Background of this theory
• The theory holds that moral reasoning, a necessary (but not sufficient) condition
for ethical behaviour, has six developmental stages, each more adequate at
responding to moral dilemmas than its predecessor. Kohlberg followed the
development of moral judgment far beyond the ages studied earlier by Piaget, who
also claimed that logic and morality develop through constructive stages.
Expanding on Piaget's work, Kohlberg determined that the process of moral
development was principally concerned with justice and that it continued
throughout the individual's life.

7. Concept of Kohlberg Moral developmental
Theory
 Moral Realism: Rules are fixed and rigid, we can not break the rules. If
we break the rules, we get punishment. E.g., If we break the traffic signal
rules, we get punishment.
 Moral cooperation: If our intention is right, we can break the rules. E.g.,
If we break the signal rules by allowing the ambulance to pass through.
 Moral Dilemma: Confusion between right and wrong. E.g., If we have
two competitive exams on the same day, we may have confusion to choose
the right one.
 Moral Reasoning: It is a thinking process involved in the judgement of
question of right and wrong. E.g., Vote for the right politician is moral
reasoning.

9. HEINZ DILEMMA:
• Heinz’s wife was dying from a particular type of cancer. Doctors said a new
drug might save her. The drug had been discovered by a local chemist, and
the Heinz tried desperately to buy some, but the chemist was charging ten
times the money it cost to make the drug, and this was much more than the
Heinz could afford.
• Heinz could only raise half the money, even after help from family and
friends. He explained to the chemist that his wife was dying and asked if he
could have the drug cheaper or pay the rest of the money later.
• The chemist refused, saying that he had discovered the drug and was going
to make money from it. The husband was desperate to save his wife, so later
that night he broke into the chemist’s and stole the drug.

25. • CRITICS:
 Androcentrism: Kohlberg’s early research was conducted entirely with male subjects, yet it became the basis for a
theory applied to both males and females
 Cross-cultural generalizability: critics argue that Kohlberg’s stages are culturally biased—that the highest stages
in particular reflect a westernized ideal of justice based on individualistic thought. This is biased against those that
live in non-Western societies that place less emphasis on individualism.
 Inconsistency in moral judgments: Another criticism of Kohlberg’s theory is that people frequently demonstrate
significant inconsistency in their moral judgements. This often occurs in moral dilemmas involving drinking and
driving or business situations where participants have been shown to reason at a lower developmental stage,
typically using more self-interest driven reasoning (i.e., stage two) than authority and social order obedience driven
reasoning (i.e., stage four). Critics argue that Kohlberg’s theory cannot account for such inconsistencies’
 Reasoning vs. Intuition: People may respond very differently to real life situations that they find themselves in
than they do with an artificial dilemma presented to them in the comfort of a research environment

26. CONCLUSION:
• Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory gives structure to an otherwise difficult to understand phenomenon. His
development of morality influenced the theory of moral development in women proposed by Carol Gilligan
and continues to circulate in academic circles worldwide. His work finds value not only in the world of
psychology but in the world of education as well. Comprehension of his stages of moral development is
important when attempting to understand the behaviour and decisions made by students. Accurate assignment
to a stage of development can help teachers understand why students do the things they do and how to best
approach them. For example, it is useless to attempt to convince a student that she should sit quietly in her
seat when the teacher is gone if she is in stage one of her moral development. The teacher must instead find a
way to maintain the illusion of an authoritative figure while absent from the classroom. Ultimately, the theory
provides the teacher with the tools necessary to manage the classroom, thus enhancing the potential success of
the lessons

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Medical Publisher (P) Ltd;2007. Page no
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• 4. www.wikipedia.org.in.
•