(b) The philosophers Plato and Immanuel Kant believed that the moral sense is
.
(c) The philosophers Aristotle and John Locke assumed that moral development
requires and.
Answers: (a) right; wrong; (b) inborn; (c) learning; experience.According to Kohlberg, there are three principal levels of moral develop-
ment: (1) the premoral level, (2) the conventional level, and (3) the principled
level. (There are six stages associated with the three levels, two stages to
each level. The differences between the stages are subtle, and they will not be
specified.)
The premoral levelis associated with early childhood (from about two to
seven years old). The theme of this level is power orientation,meaning that to
a child thinking at this level, “might makes right.” The parents are seen as “right”
because they are bigger and stronger than the child. Five-year-old Kenneth is con-
sidering whether or not he should steal a one-dollar bill from his mother’s purse.
His hesitation, if there is any, is based on the fear of being caught, not on guilt. He
is amoral,meaning that he has no actual moral sense, no internal feeling that he
is wrong to do something that is forbidden.(a) According to Kohlberg, there are how many principal levels of moral development?(b) Thinking that “might makes right” is what kind of an orientation to morality?
(c) The word refers to a lack of a moral sense, an absence of an internal feel-
ing of guilt.Answers: (a) Three; (b) A power orientation; (c) amoral.The conventional levelis associated with late childhood and adolescence
(seven to eighteen years old). Also, many, probably most, adults continue to oper-
ate at the conventional level, never progressing to the principled level. The theme
of the conventional level is “law and order.” Right is right because human beings
have codes of conduct and written laws. Fifteen-year-old Sally identifies with her
family. The family has a certain religion, certain attitudes, and well-defined
notions of what is and is not socially acceptable behavior. Sally doesn’t question
the family’s values. She doesn’t examine or challenge them. She is operating at the
conventional level. Thirty-four-year-old Kelvin pays his taxes, has earned an hon-
orable discharge from the army, and thinks of himself as a “good citizen.” Kelvin,
like Sally, is operating at the conventional level.Developmental Psychology: How Children Become Adults 167