Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral

Reasoning
Stages of Moral and Ethical
Development
 Moral Development:
A historical perspective
• Author of a three-stage theory on how
moral reasoning develops
• Moral reasoning is the aspect of cognitive
development that has to do with the way an
individual reasons about moral decisions;
about what is right and what is wrong;
what should be done and what should not
be done.
 The good, the bad
Good Bad
• Focused on morality as • Has definite race, class
an important area of and gender bias. We had
human development a hard time accepting that
• Developed a system middle-class Caucasian
(moral dilemmas) for males were the most
measuring reasoning ethical folks on earth
• Moral reasoning does not
predict moral behavior
well
 Why study Kohlberg’s theory?
It provides a useful way to analyze our own
moral reasoning. How do we decide what
is right?

It is true that knowing what is right and

doing what is right are two very different
things, but we believe that if thinking
ethically comes first then acting ethically
may follow.
 Kohlberg’s Levels
• Pre-conventional Level
• Conventional Level
• Post-Conventional, Autonomous, or
Principled Level
 Pre-conventional Level
Stage 0: Egocentric Judgment

“The child makes judgments of good on

the basis of what he likes and wants or
what helps him, and bad on the basis of
what he does not like or what hurts him.
He has no concept of rules or of
obligations to obey or conform
independent of his wish.” (Kohlberg,
1971)
 Pre-conventional Level
Stage 1: The Punishment and Obedience Orientation.

The physical consequences of action determine its

goodness or badness regardless of the human
meaning or value of these consequences. Avoidance
of punishment and unquestioning deference to power
are values in their own right, not in terms of respect
for an underlying moral order supported by
punishment and authority (the latter is stage 4).
Stage One: Obedience Out of Fear
of Punishment
• Conduct is based upon saving one's own
hide, without regard for consequences to
others. This is a form of "might makes
right." It is consequentiality in that no
overarching principles apply--only the
likely results (consequences) are weighed.
They're only weighed based upon impact
to the individual rather than based upon
consequences for all.
 Pre-conventional Level
– Stage 2: The Instrumental Relativist Orientation.

Right action consists of what instrumentally

satisfies one’s own needs and occasionally the
needs of others. Human relations are viewed in
terms such as those of the market place.
Elements of fairness, reciprocity, and equal
sharing are present, but they are always
interpreted in a physical, pragmatic way.
Reciprocity is a matter of ‘you scratch my back
and I’ll scratch your”, not loyalty, gratitude, or
justice. (Kohlberg, 1971)
 Stage Two: Quid Pro Quo, or You
Scratch My Back, I'll Scratch Yours
This can perhaps be looked upon as a primitive version of
the famous phrase informing the Founding (of the
American Republic), "enlightened self-interest." So one
might take some liberties and call this the "UNenlighted
self-interest" stage.

The needs of others are considered, but only insofar as

said consideration is viewed as means to selfish results.
If I do x as x involves another person (or refrain from
doing x), what do I get out of it? Sound familiar in
Washington? Remember, this is a very early stage of
development.
 Conventional Level
Kohlberg calls the second level of moral development
the conventional level. Young people have
internalized the ethical and moral beliefs of their
family and the group they associate with. Kohlberg
says this is because of loyalty to these groups.
Young people at this stage will often say, “my dad
said…” (family) or, “all my friends are doing it”
(society) or, “I plan to join the army to defend my
country” (patriotic). Many people remain at this level,
continuing to define right and wrong in terms of what
society believes or what laws require.
 Conventional Level (Other-directed)

Children raised in a society where the parents

missed work on a weekly basis, where the
ones who did work falsified time sheets,
where leaders were known to help only their
friends and relatives, out of loyalty these
children are more than likely to develop these
same values.
 Conventional Level
Stage 3: The Interpersonal Concordance or “Good
Boy” “Good Girl”

“Good behavior is what pleases or helps others

and is approved by them. There is much
conformity to stereotypical images of what is
majority or “natural” behavior. Behavior is
frequently judged by intention – ‘he means well’
becomes important for the first time. One earns
approval by being ‘nice’.” (Kohlberg, 1971)
 Stage Three: Good Boy/Good Girl
(or bad boy/bad girl)
• Progression to the consideration of the approval
or disapproval of others not merely as means for
getting one's own way but for its own sake.
Another key development in this stage is the
intentions (rather than only the consequences)
of self and others are considered. It's now
possible to, at least in a rudimentary way,
assess actions based upon whether good was
intended, regardless of the outcome. Meaning
well and meaning ill comes into play.
 Conventional Level
Stage 4: The “Law and Order” Orientation

“The individual is oriented toward authority,

fixed rules, and the maintenance of the
social order. Right behavior consists in
doing one’s duty, showing respect for
authority, and maintaining the given social
order for its own sake.” (Kohlberg, 1971)
 Stage Four: Law and Order (what
one can call the fascist stage)
• It's rather frightening that many people never
progress past this stage that involves obedience
to laws solely because "society says so"; but
there you have it. An advance is made in terms
of looking at society at-large instead of just at
the self of Level I or the approval by others of
self in Stage Three. However, the "blind
obedience," black-or-white orientation, and
sense that rules are inflexible and it's always
one's duty to obey them simply because they
"are," make this stage to me one of the more
dangerous at which fixation can occur.
 Post-Conventional Level
(Principles Higher Than Rules)
To reach Kohlberg’s final level, which he labeled the
post-conventional level, a person must continue to
develop morally. “A person at this level stops
defining right and wrong in terms of group loyalties
or norms. Instead, the adult at this level develops
moral principles that define right and wrong from a
universal point of view.” Simply stated, a person at
this level makes his/her ethical decisions based on
what any reasonable person would know as right
or wrong. These decisions are based on universal
ideals of justice or human rights or human welfare.
Post-Conventional, Autonomous, or Principled
Level

Stage 5: The Social-Contract Legalistic

Orientation

EXAMPLE: We all know and admire these

individuals. They are the ones who stand
up to tribal council members, program
directors, and other tribal members when
they are exhibiting questionable behavior.
While we admire these people, we often
don’t emulate them because of fear.
 Stage Five: Social Contract

• The main leap made here is that of seeing current rules

as subordinate to the needs of society rather than as
instructing them. Laws are viewed as responsive and
flexible; as such, persons are active creators of rules
instead of merely passive recipients. As such, rules are
based upon dynamic discourse between persons in a
society (social contract) and may be altered along the
way. Unlike Stage Four, rules are not viewed as the "be-
all, end-all," but are only responsive to current societal
needs for well-being.
This stage introduces what one would call engaging in
dynamic "ethics" as opposed to simply adhering to
"morality."
Post-Conventional, Autonomous, or Principled
Level

Finally, Kohlberg also found that when his

students took courses in ethics that
challenged them to look at issues from a
universal point of view, they had a more
likely chance of changing their moral
behavior.
Post-Conventional, Autonomous, or
Principled Level
Stage 6: The Universal Ethical-Principle Orientation

Right is defined by the decision of conscience in

accord with self-chosen ethical principles that
appeal to logical comprehensiveness, universality,
and consistency. These principles are abstract
and ethical (the Golden Rule, the categorical
imperative); they are not concrete moral rules like
the Ten Commandments. At heart, these are
universal principles of justice, of the reciprocity and
equality of the human rights, and of respect for the
dignity of human beings as individual persons.
(Kohlberg, 1971)
 Stage Six: Universal Ethical
Principles
• Here, overarching abstract principles
exceed current rules and laws in terms of
importance. In Stage Five we had
attention to communication of social needs
by all, we now have the primacy of
personal conscience (as opposed to the
personal desires of Level I).
 Stage Six: Universal Ethical
Principles "conscientious objection"
• This stage is only rarely attained, but that might be a good thing, as
it's one of the more problematic stages. In a sense, this stage is
similar to the rule-following of Stage Four. The advance is that
conformity isn't set up as the "summum bonum" (highest good), but
adherence to one's personal conscience is. While it's certainly
laudable to question conformity and blind obedience by using one's
own judgement, the danger here is that one become dogmatic about
one's own ideas and principles that one regards as universal. This
smacks as bordering on hubris (arrogance) in that it replaces the
social give-and-take of Stage Five with the appeal to personal
conscience. Taken to extreme, this could lead, ironically enough, to
the imposition by one of allegedly absolute principles to be followed
by those in Stage Four. In other words, these supposedly advanced
principles that a person derives here in Stage Six could be viewed
by those in Stage Four as laws to be blindly followed, but the person
in Stage Six might be wrong!
 Stage 7 Transcendental Morality
• This deals with religion and values and
what is called Spirituality and relates to
your SQ i.e. Spiritual Quotient and
enlightenment.
 Which one of Kohlberg’s stages
describes you?
• Give examples of your own behavior to
support that stage.