Moral Stages: A Current Formulation and a Response to Critics

Moral Stages: A Current Formulation and a Response to Critics

Contributions to Human Development VoL 10 Series Editor John A. Meacham, Buffalo, N.Y. @)[WA\OO~~OO S.Karger Basel Miinchen Paris London New York Tokyo Sydney

Moral Stages: A Current Formulation and a Response to Critics Lawrence Kohlberg, Cambridge, Mass. Charles Levine, London, Onto Alexandra Hewer, Cambridge, Mass. 9 tables, 1983.~OO(ffi~OO S.Karger Basel Miinchen Paris London New York. Tokyo Sydney

Contributions to Human Development National Library of Medicine, Cataloging in Publication Kohlberg, Lawrence, 1927- Moral stages: a current formulation and a response to critics/ Lawrence Kohlberg, Charles Levine, Alexandra Hewer. -- Basel; New York: Karger, 1983. (Contributions to human development; v. 10) I. Child Psychology 2. Judgment - in infancy & childhood 3. Morals - in infancy & childhood 1. Levine, Charles II. Hewer, Alexandra III. Title IV. Series WI C0778S v. 10 [WS 105.5.M3 K79m] ISBN 3-8055-3716-6 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright 1983 by S. Karger AG, P.O. Box, CH-4009 Basel (Switzerland) Printed in Switzerland by Thiir AG Offsetdruck, Pratteln ISBN 3-8055-3716-6

Contents Preface 1. Introduction VII 5 2. The Current Formulation of the Theory 5 Overview....................................... 5 Section I. The Theory as a Rational Reconstruction of the Ontogenesis of Justice Reasoning... 10 Section 2. The Enlargement of the Psychological Study of the Moral Domain 17 Section 3. A Distinction between Soft and Hard Stages..... 29 Section 4. The Postulation of a Soft Hypothetical Seventh Stage 41 Section 5. The Form and Content Distinction 42 Section 6. A and B Substages............ 43 Section 7. Judgment-Action Research....... 47 Section 8. Research on Socio-Moral Atmosphere 53 Section 9. The Attenuation of Stage 6....... 60 Section 10. Distinguishing Assumptions Made Prior to Research from Implications of Research 64 (i) Value-Relevance 67 (ii) Phenomenalism 69 (iii) Universalism. 71 (iv) Prescriptivism 76 (v) Cognitivism 78 (vi) Formalism.. 81 (vii) Principledness 84 (viii) Constructivism 88 (ix) Justice as Primary 91 3. Synopses of Criticisms and a Reply Schweder Simpson Sullivan. Gilligan. Murphy and Gilligan, and Gilligan and Murphy Levine.. Gibbs.. Habermas 104 104 109 115 121 141 150 152 155

Contents VI 4. Summary and Conclusion 165 References 167 Author Index 175 Subject Index 177

Preface For approximately twenty years Lawrence Kohlberg's stage theory of moral reasoning has been recognized as the major cognitive-structural perspective on moral development. Some of the detailed statements of his theory and the various claims he has made about it can be found in Stage and Sequence [1969], From Is to Ought [1971], Moral Stages and Moralization [1976], and Justice as Reversibility [1981 b]. In addition to discussions of various psychological and philosophical issues, these papers present: (a) descriptions of Kohl berg's stage hierarchy; (b) discussions of the changes that have occurred in the methods he and his colleagues employ to score moral reasoning; and (c) research data which support his claim that moral development proceeds through his stage hierarchy in a step-wise, invariant stage sequence, regardless of cross-cultural variation in moral norms and beliefs. Kohlberg's work has stimulated a great deal of debate over the last ten years. Some scholars have challenged his normative-ethical and cross-cultural claims, while others have argued that his theory and method are sexbiased and fail to adequately describe and document a theoretically complete conception of the moral domain. The present monograph is written to present Kohlberg's perspective on these and other issues. It is also written as a response to the major criticisms which have been aimed at his work. The monograph addresses itself to two related tasks. In chapter 2 we present a systematic and detailed discussion of the current formulation of Kohlberg's theory. This chapter (a) describes his theory as a rational reconstruction of the ontogenesis of stages of justice reasoning; (b) provides a discussion ofthe metaethical assumptions underlying his theory; (c) differentiates the normative-ethical from the metaethical assumptions Kohlberg holds; and (d) details Kohlberg's conception of the moral domain. In addition to the above, we draw attention to the distinctions Kohlberg makes between 'hard' and 'soft' stages, form and content, and A and B substages. Finally, we discuss the nature of Kohlberg's current claims about Stages 6 and 7 and bring the reader up to date on recent research pertaining to (a) the

Preface VIII relationship between moral reasoning and moral behavior and (b) the effects of socio-moral atmosphere on moral development. Chapter 3 presents synopses of the work of various critics and our response to their claims. We reply to such critics as Gilligan [1982], Schweder [1982], Simpson [1974], Sullivan [1977] and Habermas [1979]. In this chapter we acknowledge the constructive criticisms of the theory that many scholars have made, but we defend Kohlberg's theory against, for example, those who claim that it is an incomplete theory and is culturallyand sex-biased. Our review of the current formulation of Kohlberg's theory provides the conceptual basis for much of our response to his critics. Given the nature of the issues addressed in this monograph, we believe that it will be of interest to graduate students and professionals in the disciplines of philosophy, anthropology, psychology, sociology and education. We should point out, however, that constraints on manuscript length have required us to assume that the reader has a basic familiarity with Kohlberg's theory. Several persons and organizations have helped us in various ways to prepare this monograph. We wish to acknowledge, first of all, the valuable insights of Ann Higgins, Cheryl Armon, and Bill Puka. Second, we thank Veronica D'Souza for the effort and patience she has displayed in preparing a final copy of the manuscript. The second author acknowledges with gratitude the financial support he has received from The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Award No. 451-80-1697) and The University of Western Ontario Foundation (Award No. T22IAl). Finally, we thank the following publishing houses and organizations for granting us permission to reprint various materials in this monograph: The Religious Education Press, Beacon Press, Basic Books, The American Psychological Association, Oxford University Press, Jossey-Bass Incorporated, Prentice-Hall Incorporated, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, and The Center for Dewey Studies.