Notes in GE 5 – Ethics

Part I
THE MORAL AGENT

Lesson 2
THE MORAL AGENT: DEVELOPING VIRTUE AS HABIT

SIX STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Lawrence Kohlberg is an American psychologist best known for his theory of
stages of moral development. In principle, he agreed with Jean Piaget’s theory of moral
development but developed his ideas further.
Kohlberg employed Piaget’s storytelling technique to tell stories involving moral
dilemmas. One of his best-known stories concerns a man called Heinz.
In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug
that 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 make. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2000 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 $1000 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 am going to make money from it.” So Heinz got desperate and broke
into the man’s store to steal the drug for his wife.
Kohlberg asked a series of questions such as:
- Should Heinz have stolen the drug?
- Would it change anything if Heinz did not love his wife?
- What if the person dying was a stranger? Would it make any difference?
- Should the police arrest the chemist for murder if the woman died?
By analyzing the answers from children of various ages to these questions,
Kohlberg hoped to discern the ways in which moral reasoning developed as individuals
grew older. He discovered that the reasons tended to change as the children got older.
Kohlberg pinpointed three distinct levels of moral reasoning each with two
stages. He believed that people can only pass through these levels in the order listed.
Each new stage replaces the kind of reasoning typical of the previous stage. Some do
not achieve all the stages.

LEVEL 1 – PRE-CONVENTIONAL MORALITY

Seen in preschool children, most elementary school pupils, some junior high
school students and a few high school students.

Stage 1 – PUNISHMENT AVOIDANCE AND OBEDIENCE ORIENTATION

People make decisions based on what is best for themselves, without regard for
others’ needs or feelings. They obey rules only if established by more powerful
individuals. “Wrong” behaviors are those that will be punished.
Example: Heinz should not steal the drug because he would go to jail if he got caught.

Stage 2 – EXCHANGE OF FAVORS: INDIVIDUALIST ORIENTATION

People recognize that others also have needs. They may try to satisfy others’
needs if their own needs are also met. They continue to define right and wrong
primarily in terms of consequences to themselves.
Example: Heinz should steal the drug because the druggist is being greedy by charging
so much.

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Notes in GE 5 – Ethics
LEVEL 2 – CONVENTIONAL MORALITY
Seen in a few older elementary school pupils, some junior high school students,
and many high school students. Stage 4 typically does not appear until the high school
years.

STAGE 3 – GOOD BOY/GOOD GIRL: INTERPERSONAL ACCORD AND

CONFORMITY
People make decisions based on what actions will please others, especially
authority figures and other individuals with high status. They are concerned about
maintaining relationships through sharing, trust and loyalty. They take other people’s
perspectives and intentions into account when making decisions.
Example: Heinz should try to steal the drug because that’s what a devoted husband
would do.

STAGE 4 – LAW AND ORDER: SOCIAL ORDER MAINTAINING ORIENTATION

People look to society as a whole for guidelines about right or wrong. They know
rules are necessary for keeping society running smoothly and believe it is their “duty”
to obey them. However, they do not necessarily recognize that as society’s needs
change, rules should change as well.
Example: Heinz should not steal the drug because that would be against the law and he
has duty to uphold the law.

LEVEL 3 – POST-CONVENTIONAL MORALITY

Rarely seen before college. Stage 6 is extremely rare even in adults.

STAGE 5 – SOCIAL CONTRACT AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

People recognize that rules represent agreements among many individuals about
appropriate behavior. Rules are seen as potentially useful mechanisms that can
maintain the general social order and protect individual rights. People also recognize
the flexibility of rules.
Example: Heinz should steal the drug because his obligation to save his wife’s life must
take precedence over his obligation to respect the druggist’s property rights.

STAGE 6 – UNIVERSAL ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

Stage 6 is a hypothetical, “ideal” stage that few people ever reach. People in this
stage adhere to a few, abstract, universal principles that transcend specific norms and
rules. They answer to a strong inner conscience and willingly disobey laws that violate
their own ethical principles.
Example: Heinz should steal the drug even if the person was a stranger and not his wife.
He must follow his conscience and not let the druggist’s desire for money outweigh the
value of a human life.

GETTING TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL, CONSCIENCE-BASED MORAL DECISIONS

Stage 1: RESPECT FOR POWER AND PUNISHMENT
In this level, to be right, one ought to be obedient to the people in power and
thus, avoid punishment.
Motto: “Might makes right”

Stage 2: LOOKING OUT FOR #1

Instead of loyalty, gratitude or justice, the case is more a matter of “you scratch
my back and I will scratch yours.”
Motto: “What is in it for me?”

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Notes in GE 5 – Ethics
Stage 3: BEING A “GOOD BOY” OR “NICE GIRL”
When charged of doing something wrong, behavior of people in this stage is
likely to be justified by stating “everyone else is doing it” or “I did not intend to hurt
anyone.”
Motto: “I want to be nice.”

Stage 4: LAW AND ORDER THINKING

Social leaders are assumed to be right and social rules are adopted without
considering the core moral principles involved. In this stage, individuals believe that
anyone breaking the rules deserves to be punished and “pay his/her debt to society.”
Motto: “I will do my duty.”

Stage 5: JUSTICE THROUGH DEMOCRACY

Democracy is seen as a social contract whereby everybody tries constantly to
construct a set of laws that best serves most people, while protecting the basic rights of
everybody. Respect for the law and a sense of obligation to live by the rules are present,
as long as rules were established in a fair manner and fulfill a moral purpose.
Motto: “I will live by the rules or try to change them.”

Stage 6: DECIDING ON BASIC MORAL PRINCIPLES BY WHICH YOU WILL LIVE

YOUR LIFE AND RELATE TO EVERYONE FAIRLY
In this stage, individuals judiciously elect fundamental principles to follow, such
as caring for and respecting every living thing, feeling that people are equal and thus
deserve equal opportunities, or, subscribing to the Golden Rule. They are tough enough
to act on their values even if others may think they are odd or if their beliefs are against
man’s law, such as refusing to fight in a war.
Social control in Stage 6 is exercised through guilt associated with the rational
reaction of conscience based on moral principles. Reaching this stage is thus seen as
getting to the highest level, conscience-based moral decisions.

PROBLEMS WITH KOHLBERG’S THEORY

Not all ethicists accept Kohlberg’s theory on moral development. Some argue
that his mentioned dilemmas lack ecological validity.
Some say that Kohlberg’s sample is biased because Kohlberg’s theory was based
on an all-male sample, and thus the stages reflect an androcentric or male definition of
morality.
Research has not supported Kohlberg’s belief that the development of abstract
thinking in adolescence invariably leads people to the formation of idealistic moral
principles.
Some cross-cultural psychologists argue that Kohlberg’s stories and scoring
system reflect a Western emphasis on individual rights, harm, and justice that is not
shared in many cultures.

Main Reference:
ETHICS: Principles of Ethical Behavior in Modern Society
by Jens Micah De Guzman et al.
The Moral Agent: Developing Virtue as Habit, pages 40 – 49

Prepared by:
MICHAEL ANGELO F. EMPIZO
Saint Louis College, City of San Fernando, La Union
Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension
May 24, 2020

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