Blel Rginer
• Please answer the FIRST
question on your sheet and
actually think it.
• What are some schemas you
have created about specific
morals?
– No seatbelt =
dangerous/illegal= WRONG
Ringeth of Bell
• “Remember back to our
discussion yesterday about
–
–
–
–
Schemas
Symbolic thought
Cognitive development
Morals “
• Now, how do morals
develop and change as
we develop cognitively?
 Animated
 Video
Heinz Dilemma

In Europe, a woman was near death from cancer. One
drug might save her, a form of radium that a druggist in
the same town had recently discovered. The druggist was
charging $2,000, ten times what the drug cost him to
make. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone
he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get
together about half of what it cost. He told the druggist
that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or
let him pay later. But the druggist said, "No" and that he
discovered the drug and intended to make money on it.
The husband got desperate and broke into the man's store
to steal the drug for his wife.
(Kohlberg, 1969)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Should Heinz steal the drug? Why or why not?
If Heinz doesn't love his wife, should he steal the drug for
her? Why or why not?
Suppose the person dying is not his wife but a stranger.
Should Heinz steal the drug for a stranger? Why or why
not?
Why should people do everything they can to save
another's life?
It is against the law for Heinz to steal? Does that make it
morally wrong? Why or why not?
Why should people generally do everything they can to
avoid breaking the law? How does this relate to Heinz's
case?
Kohlberg’s
Moral Development
Kohlberg’s Theory
 How do we develop a
sense of right and wrong?
• Similar progression as seen
in Piaget’s stage theory.
• We use REASON to
decide our morality, and
as we change, so does
our reasoning. (cognitive)




Lawrence Kohlberg – in the 1970’s proposed most
influential theory of moral development
Case study approach (like Piaget) – posed moral
dilemmas to children, adolescents, and adults to
compare their reasoning for moral decisions (didn’t
care about actual decision).
Found predicable, age-related stages.
Wrote the Heinz Dilemma to record the answers people
would give to assess their morals.
Preconventional Level
Birth-9 years old
STAGE 1- AVOID PUNISHMENT STAGE
Moral Reasoning- Right and wrong
related to consequences. No
internalization of rules or values.
What is right? Whatever actions will
help avoid punishments.
Answer to Heinz’s Dilemma?
Preconventional Stage
Birth-9 years old
• Stage 2- SELFISH STAGE
• Moral Reasoning-I will do
whatever helps ME and doesn’t
hurt others.
• What is right? Things that will get
me a reward.
• Answer to Heinz’s Dilemma?
Conventional Stage
-most adults who understand they are a part
of society and follow social norms
• Stage 3- Conformity Approval Stage
• Moral Reasoning- I will do what is right
because that makes people happy.
• What is right? I will do whatever will
make the most people happy.
• Answer to Heinz’s Dilemma?
Conventional Stage
-most adults who understand they are a part of society
and follow social norms
Stage 4- Law-and-Order
Moral Reasoning-These are
the rules and I will follow
them as best as I can
What is right? The rules are
right and I have to follow
them as best as I can.
Answer to H.D.?
Postconventional Stage
-10%-15% adults
Stage 5- Human Rights
Moral reasoning-Rules should
be followed to keep the
structure of society.
What is right? Following the rules
to maintain social order
Answer to H.D.?
Postconventional Stage
-10%-15% adults
• Stage 6- Human ethics
• Moral reasoning-internal
realization of what is universally
right and wrong.
• What is right? Whatever is best
for HUMANITY, and whatever is
fair for everyone. If the rules are
unjust, I will break them for a
good cause.
• Answer to H.D.?
Listen with your eyes and
ears!
• Kohlberg for the visual
learners!
• How would people at
each stage of Kohlberg’s
moral development
answer to the Heinz
Dilemma?
Examples from your life?
• An event in your life where
your moral reasoning was
defined.. Or a MAJOR
event that defined what
your morals were at any
given point in time?
A Real Life Example
•
•
•
As a young woman, Kathleen Soliah was involved with the radical
movement known as the Symbionese Liberation Army, best remembered
for the kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst. In 1976, Soliah was
indicted with others for planting pipe bombs under two Los Angeles police
cruisers. The bombs were discovered before any damage was done, but
Kathleen went "underground" and was never captured. She settled in St.
Paul, Minnesota, changed her name to Sara Jane Olson, married, raised
three children, and was an active and much-admired member of her
community.
In 1999, after the television show "America’s Most Wanted" featured the
crime, Olson was captured in her hometown on her way to give English
lessons to immigrants studying for their U.S. citizenship examination. On
January 18, 2002, she was sentenced to a twenty-year-to-life prison term
after entering a plea of guilty. (She says she agreed to the plea only
because she did not believe she could get a fair trial in the aftermath of the
September 11 terrorist attacks.)
Was Sara Jane Olson’s arrest, conviction, and punishment fair, moral,
and/or just? Why or why not?