You are driving a minivan with 5 other men in
it. The men are complete strangers to you.
You turn around a sharp curve and find
yourself on a narrow bridge over a gaping
chasm. A woman with her back toward you is
pushing a stroller with a baby in it. She
cannot get out of the way and you cannot
stop in time to save her. You can swerve off
the bridge, killing everyone in the minivan.
You only have two choices: swerve and kill
everyone in the minivan (S) or continue on
the bridge and kill the woman with the baby
(C) Assume that in either case there are no legal
consequences for you (i.e. it is a purely moral
choice).
Answer the following four questions:
Do you swerve and kill yourself along with the other
men, or do you keep going and kill the woman with the
baby?
 Suppose you could get out of the car before it flies off
the bridge. Do you swerve killing the other men but
saving yourself, or do you keep going killing the woman
and the baby?
 Suppose that the other men are suspected murderers
whom you are transporting to the courthouse for a trial.
Do you swerve, killing them but saving yourself, or do
you keep going, killing the woman and the baby?
 Suppose that the other men are convicted murderers
whom you are transporting to prison for lifetime
sentences without parole. Do you swerve, killing them but
saving yourself, or do you keep going, killing the woman
and the baby?

You're on a hill. You have a rifle and perfect
aim. You see at a distance a train out of
control and flying at these four people.
You somehow know that it will kill all of them.
 You also see a fat man standing sort of near the
tracks.
 You realize that if you shoot him from where you
are, he'll fall on the tracks, his mass will stop the
train, and the other four will be saved.
 Nobody sees you, so you don't have to worry about
being tried for murder. Except, of course, in your
mind.
So, do you shoot the fat man? He wouldn't have
died unless you shot him


A cave-in occurs while you and a
stranger are in a concrete room deep in
a mineshaft. Before the phone goes
dead, you learn the entire mine is sealed
and the air hole being drilled will not
reach you for 30 hours. If you both take
sleeping pills from the medicine chest,
the oxygen will last for only 20 hours.
Both of you can’t survive; alone, one of
you might. After you both realize this,
the stranger takes a couple sleeping pills
and says that it is in God’s hands, and
falls asleep. There is also a loaded gun in
the room with you. What do you do?
 Would
you be willing to murder an innocent
person if it would end hunger in the world?
 You
are offered ten million dollars for the
following act. Before you are ten pistols –
only one of which is loaded. You must pick
up one of the pistols, point it at the
forehead of an unknown person bound and
gagged in a seat before you, and pull the
trigger. If you pick an unloaded pistol, you
walk away with the money
 Do
you believe in capital punishment?
Would you be willing to execute a person
sentenced to death by the courts if you
were selected by lottery to do so, and
that person would go free if you refused?
Assume you know ‘no’ details of the trial.
 You
and a person you love deeply are
placed in separate rooms with a button
next to each of you. You know that you
will be killed unless one of you presses
your button before sixty minutes pass;
furthermore, the first to press the button
will save the other person, but will
immediately be killed. What would you do?
 You
can rescue (from a fire, say) either an
ancient, priceless object or a diseased,
drunken and morally repulsive human being
A
doctor can only operate on one patient - he
has to choose between a kind, obscure family
man and a gifted artist who is also a horrible
human being.

If you could use a voodoo doll to get even
with anyone who has ever wronged you,
would you do it?
A
pregnant woman leading a group of people
out of a cave on a coast is stuck in the mouth
of that cave. In a short time high tide will be
upon them, and unless she is unstuck, they
will all be drowned except the woman, whose
head is out of the cave. Fortunately, (or
unfortunately,) someone has with him a stick
of dynamite. There seems no way to get the
pregnant woman loose without using the
dynamite which will inevitably kill her; but if
they do not use it everyone will drown. What
should they do?
The Fat Man and the Impending Doom
 A fat man leading a group of people out of a
cave on a coast is stuck in the mouth of that
cave. In a short time high tide will be upon
them, and unless he is unstuck, they will all
be drowned except the fat man, whose head
is out of the cave. [But, fortunately, or
unfortunately, someone has with him a stick
of dynamite.] There seems no way to get the
fat man loose without using [that] dynamite
which will inevitably kill him; but if they do
not use it everyone will drown. What should
they do?
You are an emergency worker that has just been called to the
scene of an accident. When you arrive you see that the car
belongs to your wife. Fearing the worst you rush over to see
she is trapped in her car with another man.
She sees you and although barely conscious, she manages to
mouth the words “I’m sorry”…
You don’t understand, but her look answers you question. The
man next to her is her lover with whom she’s been having an
affair.
You reel back in shock, devastated by what her eyes have just
told you. As you step back, the wreck in front of you comes
into focus. You see your wife is seriously hurt and she needs
attention straight away. Even if she gets attention there’s a
very high chance she’ll die.
You look at the seat next to her and see her lover. He’s
bleeding heavily from a wound to the neck and you need to
stem the flow of blood immediately. It will only take about 5
minutes to stop, but it will mean your wife will definitely die.
If you tend to your wife however, the man will bleed to death
despite the fact it could have been avoided.
Who would you choose to work on?
 You
are an inmate in a concentration
camp. A sadistic guard is about to
hang your son who tried to escape
and wants you to pull the chair from
underneath him. He says that if you
don’t he will not only kill your son
but some other innocent inmate as
well. You don’t have any doubt that
he means what he says. What should
you do?
Moral Development
How your moral thinking changes
from the womb to the tomb
 How
well do you know your own moral
compass? (if you don’t care you just
answered the question)
 Ok be honest with me for a second.
 If your friend came up to you with a copy of
this years AP Psychology exam would you
take a peek?
 Let’s say you are guaranteed not to get
caught, would you cheat?

I am not interested in whether you would or would
not cheat, rather I am interested in how you came
to your decisions.

This is the study of
Kohlberg
morality by Lawrence
Morality

Concepts of what is right and what is wrong
Moral dilemmas

Hypothetical situations in which people must
make a difficult decision
Kohlberg defined a persons level of moral reasoning based
on how they defended his or her position when faced with
moral dilemmas
 He thought this more important than the actual choice
made
 Kohlberg thought people acquired their morals in stages


From a self-centered focus to a higher level that
focused on the good of society
Note: Kohlberg “not everyone makes this transition”
Kohlberg’s Stages of Morality
Ok, this is what Kohlberg did:


He asked people of different ages to read
the famous Heinz Dilemma (and it has
nothing to do with ketchup)
He then asked them what they would do
and more importantly why.
The Heinz Dilemma
Scenario 1

A woman was near death from a unique kind of
cancer. There is a drug that might save her, that a
druggist in the same town had recently discovered.
The drug costs $4,000 per dosage, ten times what
the drug had cost him to make. The sick woman's
husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to
borrow the money and tried every legal means, but
he could only get together about $2,000. He told
the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him
to sell it cheaper or to let him pay later. But the
druggist refused.
Should Heinz break into the laboratory to steal
the drug for his wife? Why or why not?
Scenario 2

Heinz broke into the laboratory and stole the drug.
The next day, the newspapers reported the breakin and theft. Brown, a police officer and a friend of
Heinz remembered seeing Heinz last evening,
behaving suspiciously near the laboratory. Later
that night, he saw Heinz running away from the
laboratory.
Should Brown report what he saw? Why or
why not?
Scenario 3

Officer Brown reported what he saw. Heinz was
arrested and brought to court. If convicted, he
faces up to two years in jail. Heinz was found
guilty.
Should the judge sentence Heinz to prison?
Why or why not?
From his research Kohlberg identified
three levels of moral reasoning
Preconventional Morality
 Conventional Morality
 Postconventional Morality

Note:
Each level has two
separate stages or levels


Preconventional Morality
At this level, judgments and decisions are based on
the desire to avoid punishment or to get rewarded



This is the morality exhibited by young children
If you do not cheat on the AP test because you are afraid
that you will get caught and punished you are using this.
Used by kids when told to clean their room and they will
be rewarded by watching tv or some other reward
• they are cleaning not because he feels some internal sense of
moral goodness to clean – but rather, they want the reward
Two levels

Punishment-obedience orientation
• (obey rules to avoid punishment or fear of punishment)

Personal Reward orientation
• (do what is best for yourself)
Heinz and Preconventional Morality

Stage One (Punishment-Obedience)


If you think Heinz is wrong to steal the drug because he
could get caught and punished you are using PCM.
Stage Two (Personal Reward)

If you think Heinz was right to steal the drug because he
will be rewarded with his wife’s life, then you are still
using PCM.
Remember….It is not about the
decision, but rather the how's and
why’s you go about reasoning it!!

Conventional Morality
At this level, judgments and decisions are made
based to gain the approval of others and society
and society’s laws (norms)





This is the most common moral stage for teenagers
Your morality is based on how you think people will view
you
You think to yourselves, “how will my peers view me”.
If you choose not to cheat on the AP test because if you
get caught your friends will think you are a cheater, you
have used CM. (or if you cheat because if you don’t they
will think you are a loser you have used CM)
Two levels

Good boy-Nice girl orientation
• ones behavior is determined by what pleases and is approved by
others

Law and order orientation
• authority must be respected and the social order maintained
Conventional Morality





We have the huge cheating problem in our
educational system today.
Why? Because most of you emphasis CM because
you REALLY care what your peers think of you.
Cheating is not looked at as the horrific act it once
was
Many of you would not think any less of a cheater –
reinforcing people to cheat even more.
If cheating was looked at as a “Scarlet Letter”,
teenagers would rarely cheat.
Heinz and Conventional Morality
 In
the Heinz example, whether you think
people will like him and think of him as hero
or if you think people will think him a
criminal, you are using conventional morality.
 It’s
wrong for him to steal because it is
against the law and he wants society to
approve of his actions so he doesn’t steal
Postconventional Morality

At this level, judgments and decisions are based on
abstract, personal principles (values)


Decisions can not be defined by society’s laws, because “justice” may
not be reflected in societal law
You rely on what is called
• Universal ethical principles
• Your belief in an absolute right and wrong




Laws can be seen as arbitrary depending on the situation
People realize that laws are important to keep society running
smoothly, but also know that they can be too rigid in some cases
So you would cheat or not cheat on the AP test depending on what
your own personal set of ethics are
Two levels

Social Contract orientation
• there is a socially agreed upon standard for individual rights – but some
laws may be unjust or unfair

Universal Ethical Principle orientation
• “good” and “right” are based on individual conscience and personal views
of justice, human dignity and equality
Heinz and
Postconventional Morality
 In
the Heinz example, you may
believe he was justified because a
woman’s life outweighs the store
owner’s right of personal property
Criticisms of Kohlberg
 Carol

Gilligan
Criticized Kohlberg’s theory because he only
focused on boys
• Kohlberg said women’s morality is less fully
developed than men’s
• Gilligan said that boys have a more absolute
perspective on morality
• While girls tend to look at the situation and
relationships of the people involved before making a
decision
Kohlberg’s ideas at work in the
classroom
 What
level???
 A fourth grade girl refrains from running in
the hallway to avoid the consequences
involved in breaking that school’s rule.


Preconventional
Punishment-obedience
 “Wear
appropriate shoes on the gym floor“ Public property must be protected in the
schools


Conventional
Law and order

A middle school student agrees to throw out the
gum she is chewing to please the teacher.
 Conventional
 Good boy/ nice girl

At a high school for girls in Chicago, math classes
studied demographic facts related to hunger , and
religion classes discussed the question of "What is
our ethical and religious responsibility for the
starving people of the world?
 Postconventional
 Universal ethical principle

"Please remember that this is your room and your
class. The behavior and participation of each
person will shape the type of learning that will
occur. Since one person's behavior affects
everyone else, I request that everyone in the
class be responsible for classroom management.
To ensure that our rights are protected and
upheld, the following laws have been established
for this classroom..."



Postconventional
Social contract
A student offers to be last in line when going to
the cafeteria so she can be first in line when
going out for recess.


Preconventional
Personal reward
What would you do??
In a country in Europe, a poor man named Nick could
find no work, nor could his sister and brother.
Without money, he stole food and medicine that they
needed. He was captured and sentenced to prison
for six years. After a couple of years, he escaped
from the prison and went to live in another part of
the country under a new name. He saved money and
slowly built up a big factory. He gave his workers the
highest wages and used most of his profits to build a
hospital for people who couldn’t afford good medical
care. Twenty years had passed when a tailor
recognized the factory owner as being Nick, the
escaped convict whom the police had been looking for
back in his hometown.
 Should
the tailor report Nick to the
police? Why or why not?
If
you could use a voodoo doll to
get even with anyone who has ever
wronged you, would you do it?
In 1842, a ship struck an iceberg and more than 30 survivors
were crowded into a lifeboat intended to hold 7. As a storm
threatened, it became obvious that the lifeboat would have to
be lightened if anyone were to survive. The captain reasoned
that the right thing to do in this situation was to force some
individuals to go over the side and drown. Such an action, he
reasoned, was not unjust to those thrown overboard, for they
would have drowned anyway. If he did nothing, however, he
would be responsible for the deaths of those whom he could
have saved. Some people opposed the captain's decision. They
claimed that if nothing were done and everyone died as a
result, no one would be responsible for these deaths. On the
other hand, if the captain attempted to save some, he could
do so only by killing others and their deaths would be his
responsibility; this would be worse than doing nothing and
letting all die. The captain rejected this reasoning. Since the
only possibility for rescue required great efforts of rowing,
the captain decided that the weakest would have to be
sacrificed. In this situation it would be absurd, he thought, to
decide by drawing lots who should be thrown overboard. As it
turned out, after days of hard rowing, the survivors were
rescued and the captain was tried for his action. If you had
been on the jury, how would you have decided?
A madman who has threatened to explode several
bombs in crowded areas has been apprehended.
Unfortunately, he has already planted the bombs
and they are scheduled to go off in a short time. It
is possible that hundreds of people may die. The
authorities cannot make him divulge the location of
the bombs by conventional methods. He refuses to
say anything and requests a lawyer to protect his
fifth amendment right against self-incrimination.
In exasperation, some high level official suggests
torture. This would be illegal, of course, but the
official thinks that it is nevertheless the right
thing to do in this desperate situation.
 Do you agree?
 If you do, would it also be morally justifiable to
torture the mad bomber’s innocent wife if that is
the only way to make him talk? Why?

In the novel Sophie's Choice, a Polish woman, Sophie
Zawistowska, is arrested by the Nazis and sent to the
Auschwitz death camp. On arrival, she is "honored"
for not being a Jew by being allowed a choice: One of
her children will be spared the gas chamber if she
chooses which one. In an agony of indecision, as
both children are being taken away, she suddenly
does choose. They can take her daughter, who is
younger and smaller. Sophie hopes that her older
and stronger son will be better able to survive, but
she loses track of him and never does learn of his
fate. Did she do the right thing? Years later, haunted
by the guilt of having chosen between her children,
Sophie commits suicide. Should she have felt guilty?
 Dilemmas