Lawrence Kohlberg

Lawrence Kohlberg was a professor at Harvard University. Starting as a developmental psychologist in the early 1970's and became famous for his later work in moral education, especially his theory of moral development.

Previously, men like Jean Piaget, John Dewey and James Mark Baldwin emphasized that human beings develop philosophically and psychologically in stages.

Kohlberg's stages of moral development

Kohlberg added that moral reasoning (the basis for ethical behavior) also develops through stages. He was able to demonstrate this in his studies at Harvard's Center for Moral Education. He concluded that there are six identifiable stages which are classified into three levels.

Level 1 (Pre-conventional)

1. Obedience and Punishment

2. Individualism, Instrumentalism, and Exchange

Level 2 (Conventional)

3. Interpersonal Concordance ("Good boy/girl")

4. Law arid Order

Level 3 (Post-conventional)

5. Social Contract

6. Universal Ethical Principles (Principled Conscience)

Some notes and explanation:

These stages refer to reasoning, not actions and not people themselves. Furthermore, Kohlberg insists that the form of moral arguments remains independent of the content of the arguments.

He also says that moral reasoning is a necessary but not sufficient condition for moral action and that Piaget's stages of cognitive development are a necessary but not sufficient condition for the stages of moral reasoning. Also, it is important to remember that he posits justice as the a piori summum bonum

An explanation of the stages:

The first level is the elementary school mentality. In stage one, people conform to social norms and to what they are told to do by authority figures (parents, teachers). This motive is to avoid punishment (punishment is threatened). Stage two espouses the "what's in it for me" position; right behavior being defined by what is in one's own best interests.

The second level is the "conventional" or typical stage found in society in general. Stage 3 is seeking the approval of others. Stage 4 is oriented to obeying the law and heeding the obligations of duty.

The third level, Kohlberg said, is rare: most adults never reach this stage of moral reasoning. Stage 5 is the awareness that social contracts are mutually benefitial, which implies that a person at this stage is concerned about others. Stage 6 is respects universal principle and answers to the individual conscience. (While Kohlberg insisted there was a stage 6, he could never get enough test subjects to define or observe it.)

Some conditions and notes

According to Kohlberg, one cannot skip levels. A person cannot jump from being concerned mostly with peer opinions (stage 3) to a being a proponent social contracts (stage 5).

Another interesting note is that he stated (observed) that the transition from stage 4 to stage 5 may result in either progress to stage 5 or in regression to stage 4.

Kohlberg further speculated that a 7th stage may exist (Transcendental Morality) which would link religion with moral reasoning, (See James Fowler's stages of faith).

Kohlberg's moral discussion approach

Like Piaget, Kohlberg believed that development is fueled by social interaction. Moral education can be accomplished in formal education by confronting people with moral dilemmas (or cognitive conflicts). Discussion of the dilemma would cause insights and development to higher stages by showing the benefits of higher stage reasoning.