Six Stages of Kohlberg

This is ostensibly a blog about computer graphics, image processing, computational photography, &c. but my mind wanders quite a bit while I'm waiting for new material. Given the recent meanderings, maybe I ought to change my blog's mission statement. Oh well, if I can come up with something thought provoking from time to time, I'll consider this project a success. This post will [probably] be the last philosophical post for a while.

Today's question:

Are there Stages of Moral Development?

After a dose of Hume ("Reason is the slave of passion") and Ayer ("Boo-Hooray" emotivism), let's look at a moral and psychological theory that's perhaps a little more hopeful, the work of Lawrence Kohlberg.



Kohlberg was a professor at U of Chicago and Harvard. Heavily influenced by Piaget, Kohlberg's studies led him to a theory of moral development consisting of six stages (1, 2, 3, 4). Given his role as a psychologist, the nature of the work wasn't prescriptive (he didn't say what people should do); rather, it was descriptive (he simply looked at what people actually do).

In his studies, Kohlberg, presented moral dilemmas and asked subjects not only what should be done but also the reasoning behind their conclusions. After analysing the answers provided by his subjects, Kohlberg identified the following six stages:

1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation
2. Individualism and Exchange
3. Good Interpersonal Relationships
4. Maintaining Social Order
5. Social Contract and Individual Rights
6. Universal Principles

Kohlberg believed individuals must proceed sequentially from one stage to the next; that is, he believed it was impossible to skip Stage 3 by jumping from Stage 2 to Stage 4.

It's hard to get much of an idea of the theory from the short list offered above. Two good synopses are this one and this one. (The latter includes more criticism.)

In the interest of brevity, that's all I'm really going to say right now. I'll probably reference this in the future, and I'll leave the bonus reading and thinking up you.