MORAL DELIBERATION (LAWRENCE KOHLBERG)

 PRE-CONVENTIONAL- CORRESPONDS HOW INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN THINKS.

CENTERED ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF ONE’S ACTION, WHICH DIVIDED INTO TWO
STAGES WHICH IS THE OBEDIENCE AND AVOIDANCE. TO A YOUNG CHILDS MIND AN
ACTION IS GOOD IF IT ENABLES ONE TO ESCAPE FROM PUNISHMENT, BAD IF IT LEADS
TO PUNISHMENT. THAT IS WHY THE GUIDANCE OF A PARENTS IS IMPORTANT IN CHILDS
DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE THEY help THE CHILD TO DISTIGUISH WHAT IS RIGHT FROM
WRONG. Infant and child
 CONVENTIONAL- THIS IS THE AGE IN WHICH OLDER CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS, AND
YOUNG ADULTS LEARN TO CONFORM TO THE EXPECTATIONS OF SOCIETY. INDIVIDUAL
LEARNS TO FOLLOW THE CONVENTIONS OF HER GROUP. ONE BEGINS TO ACT
ACCORDING TO WHAT THE LARGER GROUP SHE BELONGS TO EXEPECT HER. FOURTH
STAGE IS ACHIEVED WHEN A PERSON REALIZES THAT FOLLOWING THE DICTATES OF
HER SOCIETY IS NOT JUST GOOD FOR HERSELF BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT IS
NECESSARY FOR THE EXISTENCE OF SOCIETY ITSELF. THE INDIVIDUAL AT THIS STAGE
VALUES MOST THE LAWS, RULES, AND REGULATIONS OF HER SOCIETY AND THUS HER
MORAL REASONING IS HAPED BY DUTIFULNESS TO THE EXTERNAL STANDARDS SET BY
SOCIETY. Teenager and Youngman
 POST-CONVENTIONAL- RECOGNIZES THAT WHAT IS GOOD OR RIGHT IS NOT REDUCIBLE
TO THE FOLLOWING THE RULES OF ONE’S GROUP. INSTEAD, IT IS A QUESTION OF
UNDERSTANDING PERSONALLY WHAT ONE OUGHT TO DO AND DECIDING, USING ONE’S
FREE WILL, TO ACT ACCORDINGLY. FIFTH STAGE, THE MORAL AGENT SEES THE VALUE
OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT NAMELY AGREEMENTS THAT RATIONAL AGENTS HAVE
ARRIVED AT WHETHER EXPLICITY OR IMPLICITY IN ORDER TO SERVE WHAT CAN BE
CONSIDERED THE COMMON GOOD. SIXTH STAGE, CHOOSING TO PERFORM ACTIONS
BASED ON UNIVERSAL ETHICAL PRINCIPLES THAT ONE HAS DETERMINED BY HERSELF.
Middle age and old age
 Are you familiar with the poem written by William Shakespeare entitled “Seven
ages of man”? Well, according to his poem that this world is just like a big stage and
every individual living here are merely players. Also, according to him there are seven
ages of man’s life. A person starts his life as an infant and ended up to death. The seven
ages of man by William Shakespeare have a connect with our topic for today which is
the moral deliberation authored by Lawrence Kohlberg. Lawrence Kohlberg says that
humans’ life is composed of six stages only because he not included the death. Because
the seven ages of man focused on the life cycle of a person, whereas the moral
deliberation focused how this stage develops and molds one’s moral character. So, as I
have said Lawrence Kohlberg says that there are six stages in humans’ life and he
divided it into three levels which are the pre-conventional, conventional and post-
conventional. And each level composed of two stages.

First, we have the pre-conventional stages, it starts being an infant up to being a

child. In this stage, it corresponds how infants and child feel and think. It centered to the
consequences of their action, they are still innocent and they don’t know what is right
from wrong. Based on Kohlberg, a young child’s mind an action is good, if it enables to
escape the punishment and bad if it leads into punishment. At that young age, they
already learn little by little to distinguish what is the right action from the wrong action.

Second, we have the conventional stage. It starts from being a teenager up to a

Youngman. During teenager, they learn the expectation of the society from them. They
learn to follow the conventions of their own group. They eventually begin to value the
expectations of the groups they are belong to. While during Youngman stage, they begin
to realizes that their action is not only good for themselves but also good for the society
itself. In this stage an individual gives more value with the laws, regulations and
different rules and thus her moral reasonings begins to shaped more.

Third, we have the post-conventional stage. It starts from being middle man up
to old man. During middle man and old man stage. They begin to recognize what is good
or right but not based on the following rules of one’s group. Instead, it is a question of
understanding personally what one ought to do and deciding, using one’s free will, to
act accordingly. Meaning to say in this stage they are more matured and they know how
to distinguish of what’s being right from wrong by their own, maybe because of their
experiences in life that helps them to learn from themselves.

FEELINGS IN MORAL DELIBERATION

Don’t make a decision when you are mad. Try to calm yourself first and make a
decision. Because our feelings affect our action. Sometimes we make an action that are
complicated to what we truly feels.