Lawrence Kohlberg was an American psychologist best known for his work on the stages of moral development. He was born in Bronxville, New York on October 25, 1927. He was the youngest of four children and the child of Alfred Kohlberg and Charlotte Albrecht. He spent most of his adolescent life in Andover, Massachusetts where he attended Phillips Academy, a private high school. He continued his education, studying at the University of Chicago, where he earned his bachelor degree as well as his doctorate degree in psychology. In his dissertation he exhibited his famous three levels and six stages of moral development, for which he is most widely known. According to Kohlberg’s theory of moral development the three levels of moral development
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These stages are usually seen around college-aged individuals. In the social contract stage “People at this stage of development focus on doing what is best for society as a whole and respecting individual rights. Civil disobedience would be endorsed by people in both stages of post-conventional morality” (http://www.goodtherapy.org internet). Changing or making laws for the good of society as a whole would be an example of the social contract stage. Perhaps limiting the tax breaks that big corporations get would be better for society, rather than all taxpayers paying more because they do not have the same access to those tax …show more content…
One famous dilemma he used was called Heinz’s Dilemma. In this dilemma, a mans wife was sick with cancer. A druggist had recently discovered a new medicine that would cure her. The druggist was charging an exaggerated amount of money for this particular drug. It was more than ten times the amount it cost him to make the drug. Heinz borrowed all the money he could, but it was not enough. He tried to make some sort of an arrangement with the druggist, for payment of the medicine. The druggist declined Heinz’s offer. Heinz then decided to steal the medicine, to help his wife. Should Heinz have stolen the medicine? Why or why not? Kohlberg’s main focus was not the answer the test subjects had to the Heinz’s dilemma, but rather why did the subject choose that particular answer. He wanted to know why they thought that Heinz should have or should not have stolen the medicine. He then classified the test’s subject’s responses into one of the six
These stages are usually seen around college-aged individuals. In the social contract stage “People at this stage of development focus on doing what is best for society as a whole and respecting individual rights. Civil disobedience would be endorsed by people in both stages of post-conventional morality” (http://www.goodtherapy.org internet). Changing or making laws for the good of society as a whole would be an example of the social contract stage. Perhaps limiting the tax breaks that big corporations get would be better for society, rather than all taxpayers paying more because they do not have the same access to those tax …show more content…
One famous dilemma he used was called Heinz’s Dilemma. In this dilemma, a mans wife was sick with cancer. A druggist had recently discovered a new medicine that would cure her. The druggist was charging an exaggerated amount of money for this particular drug. It was more than ten times the amount it cost him to make the drug. Heinz borrowed all the money he could, but it was not enough. He tried to make some sort of an arrangement with the druggist, for payment of the medicine. The druggist declined Heinz’s offer. Heinz then decided to steal the medicine, to help his wife. Should Heinz have stolen the medicine? Why or why not? Kohlberg’s main focus was not the answer the test subjects had to the Heinz’s dilemma, but rather why did the subject choose that particular answer. He wanted to know why they thought that Heinz should have or should not have stolen the medicine. He then classified the test’s subject’s responses into one of the six