1. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Kohlberg divides his “stages of development into three categories – pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. You may think of theses as below average, average, and above average.

2. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Level 1 –
common in children –
Reasoners judge the morality of an action by its direct consequences and are purely concerned with the self in an egocentric manner

3. Authoritarianism Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development L-1 Stage 1 –
You will sit in
time out for 15
minutes!
L-1 Stage 1 –
How can I avoid punishment?
Authoritarianism
An action is perceived as morally wrong if the person who com-mits it is punished.

4. Moral Relativism Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development L-1 Stage 2 –
What’s in it for me?
L-1 Stage 2 –
– Shows a limited interest in the needs of others as in “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”

5. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Level 2 –
adolescents and adults –
Reasoners behave conventionally, judging the morality of their own actions by comparing them to societal views and expectations.

6. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
No! I’m allergic!
The good boy/ good girl attitude –
L-2 Stage 3 –
A desire to maintain rules – intentions are more im-portant than actions –
“She meant well.”

7. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
L-2 Stage 4 –
Law and order morality –
An obligation to uphold laws and rules seperating the good from the bad – if one person gets away with violating a rule,
anyone could; society falls apart.

8. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Level 3 –
morally mature adults –
Reasoners acknowledge that individuals are separate entities from society, and their perspective should be viewed before society’s.

9. Existentialism Democracy
Kohlberg’s Stages of
Moral Development
L-3 Stage 5 –
Social contract orientation –
Existentialism
Laws are contracts, not rigid dictums; those that do not promote the general welfare should be changed –
Democracy
the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

10. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
L-3 Stage 6 –
The Principled conscience –
Based on abstract reasoning in which justice is the only deontic imperative; no-hing is hypothetical; actions are absolute –
Imagine what you would do in the shoes of someone who was imagining what any principled person would do. Consensus!