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Lawrence Kohlberg's theory claims that our development of moral reasoning happens in six stages.
Explore Kohlberg’s 6 stages of moral development through schoolyard examples and the Heinz dilemma, illustrating moral reasoning evolution.
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Key Takeaways
- Moral reasoning develops in stages from self-interest to universal ethical principles.
- Social norms strongly influence moral judgment at the conventional level.
- Post-conventional morality involves questioning and sometimes disobeying rules based on justice.
- Not everyone reaches the highest stages of moral development.
- The Heinz dilemma exemplifies complex moral decision-making and highlights the role of context and relationships.
What the video covers
- Kohlberg's theory outlines six stages of moral development grouped into three levels: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional.
- Each stage reflects different motivations for moral judgment, from obedience and punishment to universal ethical principles.
- The video uses a school fight scenario to illustrate how individuals at different stages justify their actions.
- Stages 1 and 2 focus on self-interest and avoiding punishment, typical of children.
- Stages 3 and 4 emphasize social conformity and maintaining law and order, common in adolescence and adulthood.
- Stages 5 and 6 involve critical evaluation of rules as social contracts and adherence to universal ethical principles, which not everyone reaches.
- Kohlberg’s work was based on interviews with boys aged 10 to 16, analyzing their reasoning about moral dilemmas.
- The Heinz dilemma is presented as a classic moral dilemma to provoke reflection on moral reasoning and justice.
- Viewers are encouraged to consider different perspectives and comment on the moral questions posed.
- The video credits contributors and encourages learning by doing, supported by Sprouts and Patreon patrons.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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The stages themselves are structured in three levels: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional.
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To understand this better, imagine a conflict at school.
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There is a fight in the schoolyard; two ninth graders are beating up Tom.
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Those who watch the fight are at different stages of moral development; let's see what they do and how they justify their behavior.
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At Stage 1, we make moral judgments based on obedience and punishment.
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Finn's sense of good or bad is directly linked to whether he gets punished or not.
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Finn sees what is happening to his friend and wants to help, but he doesn't because he is afraid the teacher may punish him if he gets caught fighting.
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He asks himself, how can I avoid punishment?
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At Stage 2, we are motivated by self-interest.
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Mary decides to intervene and help Tom.
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She knows that she might get punished, but she also knows that she could become a victim herself someday.
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If she helps Tom now, he might help her in the future.
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She is asking herself, what's in it for me?
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At Stage 3, interpersonal accord and conformity guide our moral judgment.
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Betty sees the fight and wants to intervene, but when she realizes that all the others are just watching, she decides not to get involved.
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She wants others to see that she is a good girl who is conforming with the ethics of the community.
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She asks herself, what do others think of me?
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At Stage 4, we value authority and want to maintain social order.
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When the teacher sees the group fighting, he immediately steps in and shouts, stop!
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Fighting at school is forbidden.
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He feels that, above all, it is important to follow the rules, otherwise chaos breaks out.
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He feels it is his duty to uphold the rules that sustain a functioning society.
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He asks himself, how can I maintain law and order?
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At Stage 5, we understand rules as a social contract, as opposed to a strict order.
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Jesse, who watches from afar, is not sure how she feels about this.
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To her, rules make sense only if they serve the right purpose.
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Obviously, the school rules prohibit fighting, but maybe Tom deserves to finally learn his lesson.
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Just yesterday he punched a young girl from grade one.
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She asks herself, does a rule truly serve all members of the community?
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At Stage 6, we are guided by universal ethical principles.
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All those involved now have to face the headmaster.
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He first explains the school rules and why they exist.
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He then clarifies that rules are valid only if they are grounded in justice.
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The commitment to justice carries with it an obligation to disobey unjust rules.
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The headmaster's highest moral principle is compassion.
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He believes that all people should learn to understand each other's viewpoints and that they don't feel alone with their feelings.
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He asks, what are the abstract ethical principles that serve my understandings of justice?
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At the pre-conventional level, Finn is driven by fear and Mary by self-interest.
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Both judge what is right or wrong by the direct consequences they expect for themselves and not by social norms.
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This form of reasoning is common among children.
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At the conventional level, Betty responds to peer pressure and the teacher follows the rules.
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Their morality is centered around what society regards as right.
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At this level, the fairness of rules is seldom questioned.
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It is common to think like this during adolescence and adulthood.
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At the post-conventional level, Jesse knows that things are complicated because individuals may disobey rules inconsistent with their own morality.
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The headmaster follows a universal ethical idea.
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At complete disconnect with what society thinks or the rules say.
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To him, everything is solved through compassion.
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The right behavior in his opinion is therefore never a means to an end, but always an end in itself.
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Not every person reaches this level.
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The American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg based his work on Piaget's theory of cognitive development.
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In order to confirm his theory of stages of moral development, Kohlberg interviewed boys between the ages of 10 and 16.
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He analyzed how they would justify their decision when confronted with different hypothetical moral dilemmas.
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We will now present to you the most famous moral dilemma Kohlberg presented to his students.
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Let's see what you would do.
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The Heinz dilemma.
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A woman was on her deathbed.
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There was only one drug that the doctors thought might save her.
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The druggist that made that particular medicine sold it for 10 times the price of the production costs.
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The sick woman's husband, Heinz, was poor and could not afford to buy the drug.
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Not even with the financial help of his friends.
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Heinz then asked the pharmacist to sell it to him for half the price, but he refused.
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To save the life of his wife, Heinz broke into the man's laboratory and stole the medicine.
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Now tell us.
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Should Heinz have stolen the drug?
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Would it change anything if Heinz didn't love his wife?
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What if the person dying was not his wife, but a stranger?
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Should the police arrest the druggist for murder if the wife had died?
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Please write your answers and their justifications in the comments below.
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learning by trying
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learning by doing
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A special thank you to:
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Avigail
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Badrah
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Cedric Wang
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Denis Kraus
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Esther Chiang
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Eva Marie Koblin
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And all the other patrons!
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Join us
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at www.patreon.com/sprouts
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Script: Selina Bador
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Drawings: Pascal Gaggelli
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Voice: Mithril
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Recording: Notienatsu
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Editing: Oran Charoenlap
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Creative Director: Jonas Koblin
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Topics:Kohlbergmoral developmentmoral reasoningpre-conventionalconventionalpost-conventionalHeinz dilemmamoral stagesethical principlesSprouts
