Kohlberg's View on Moral Development

• For the full development of conscience (inner sense of right and wrong), a person needs mature thinking and learning.
• According to Kohlberg, without proper cognitive (thinking) development, abstract thinking and moral standards do not develop well, and general moral rules (norms) cannot form clearly.

• Intellectual development helps a person move from rigid rules (“rules are always fixed”) to flexible rules (“rules can be understood according to situation”).
• This flexible thinking is needed to judge not only the action itself, but also the intention or motive behind the action.

Suppose someone commits murder. To judge if it is right or wrong, we should look at the reason behind it, not only the act of killing.

Example situations:

• A person kills to save his own life (self-defence).
• A person kills someone who tried to rape her (self-protection).
• A person kills out of revenge or to steal property.

The outward act (killing) is the same, but the motives are different, so all three cannot be judged as equally wrong.

• A child who has been hungry for 4–5 days steals a piece of bread or some food.
• Normally, stealing is illegal and considered wrong. But in this situation, the act may not be seen as wrong, because it is done to survive.
• A child cannot understand this difference unless he has sufficient intellectual maturity to reflect on the special situation.

Kohlberg’s theory on morality shows that cultural guidance about individualism (self, personal needs) and collectivism (group, community needs) affects how people understand moral stages.

In some cases, a person steals under strong pressure, for example:

• He has been hungry for the last 3 days.
• His mother is seriously ill, and he needs money for medicine.

He steals to save his own life or someone else’s. This creates a moral dilemma:

• Is this immorality?
• Should he have done this?

• Some people argue that in such conditions, there was no other way except stealing, because society did not help him in any way.
• People who start their thinking by considering collective needs and responsibilities of the community play an important role in moral development (they think about what the community should do and how society has failed).

• Views about morality differ from culture to culture.
• Still, there are some standard moral rules accepted internationally by almost all societies worldwide.

• Cognitive maturity is needed to develop a clear sense of right and wrong.
• Moral growth includes moving from rigid rules to flexible thinking, in which intentions matter more than actions.
• Example: Killing in self-defence or stealing food due to hunger isn’t judged the same as doing it for selfish reasons.
• Moral dilemmas (e.g., stealing to save a life) help people think deeply and grow morally.
• Morality is influenced by culture, but some moral values are shared across the world.