Lawrence

Kohlberg’s:
Moral
Development

Presentation By:
Blanco, Leila Cashmire A.
Calib-og, Norman
Objectives

i. Recognize the different three levels of moral

development and its description.

ii. Identify the six stages of moral development.

ACTIVITY 
A woman was on her deathbed. 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
produce. 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. 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 laboratory to
steal the drug for his wife.
Lawrence Kohlberg (25 October
1927 - 19 January 1987)

Ϟ He was an American psychologist best

known for his theory of stages of moral
development.
ϞHe identified three distinct levels of moral
reasoning each with two sub-stages.
 Moral Judgement

Ϟ Refers to the determination a person makes about an action, motive,

situation, or person in relation to standards of goodness or rightness.
Ϟ People articulate a moral judgement, for example, when they say that an
action is right or wrong, that a person is good or bad, or that a situation is
just or unjust.
Ϟ This theory made us understand that morality starts from the early
childhood years and can be affected by several factors.
 Levels of Moral Development

Ϟ The theory holds that moral reasoning, the basis

for ethical behavior, has six identifiable developmental stages,
each more adequate at responding to moral dilemmas than its
predecessor
Ϟ For his studies, Kohlberg relied on stories such as the Heinz
dilemma, and was interested in how individuals would justify their
actions if placed in similar moral dilemmas.
 Levels of Moral Development

 Pre-conventional Morality
- Children from nine-year-old’s and younger, don’t have a
personal code of morality. Instead, their morality is shaped by
the standards of the adults and the consequences of following
and breaking the rules.
- two stages: Obedience and Punishment
Orientation and Individualism and Exchange
 Pre-conventional Morality

i. Obedience and Punishment

-The child/individual is good in order to avoid being punished. If a
person is punished, they must have done wrong.

ii. Individualism and Exchange

-At this stage, children recognize that there is not just one right view
that is handed down by the authorities. Different individuals have different
viewpoints.
 Levels of Moral Development

 Conventional Morality
-We begin to internalize the moral standards of valued adult
role models.
-Authority is internalized but not questioned, and reasoning
is based on the norms of the group to which the person
belongs.
 Conventional Morality

iii. Good Boy-Good Girl

- In this stage, a person judges an action based on the societal roles and social
expectations before him. Therefore, answers relate to the approval of others. This is
also known as the “interpersonal relationships” phase.

iv. Law and Order Orientation

-The child/individual becomes aware of the wider rules of society, so
judgments concern obeying the rules in order to uphold the law and to avoid guilt.
Includes respecting the authorities and following the rules, as well as doing a
person’s duty. The society is the main consideration of a person at this stage.
 Levels of Moral Development

 Post-conventional Morality
-According to Kohlberg this level of moral reasoning is as
far as most people get.
-People take their moral views from those around them and
only a minority think through ethical principles for
themselves.
 Post-conventional Morality

v. Social Contract Orientation

-In this stage, the person is look at various opinions and values of
different people before coming up with the decision on the morality of the
action
vi. Universal Ethical Principles
- People at this stage have developed their own set of moral guidelines
which may or may not fit the law. The judgment may become innate and may
even violate the laws and rules as the person becomes attached to his own
principles of justice.
Lawrence Kohlberg is
best known for his theory
of what?
What are the three Levels
of Moral Development?
What are the two stages
under Pre-Conventional
Morality?
What are the two stages
under Conventional
Morality?
What are the two stages
under Post-Conventional
Morality?
 Thank you
for listening! 