Although influential on the study of moral development, Kohlberg's theory proves inadequate in describing the complexity of moral choices. Kohlberg's theory overemphasizes the role of rationality in moral expression, fails to observe the influence of intuition in moral behavior, and, in doing so, undermines the goal of morality. Summarizing Kohlberg's Philosophy of Moral Development Influenced by Jean Piaget's psychosocial model of cognitive development, in 1958 American developmental psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg published a thesis that revolutionized the field of moral development. Kohlberg's work postulated a Platonic model of morality that believed that morality was universal and that all human beings innately subscribed to a universal moral ideal: this ideal he referred to as justice. Speaking against the “bag of virtues” moral perspective, in his first volume of the Philosophy of Moral Development, Kohlberg stated that “justice, in turn, is a matter of equal and universal rights…justice is not a rule or a set of rules, it is a moral principle. By moral principle I mean a universal way of choosing, a rule of choice that we want all people to follow” (Kohlberg, 1981). According to Kohlberg's model, each individual has an innate sense of justice that he develops throughout his life, and the development of justice occurs in stages. The first phase, the preconventional one, begins during childhood. The pre-conventional phase is divided into two phases, “Phase 1” and “Phase 2”. “Phase 1” thinkers rationalize morality in terms of reward and punishment: an action is considered good or bad depending on whether it is rewarded or punished by authorities. The “Phase 2” reasoning considers reciprocity and the moral model b...... middle of paper ......t leads to the question of the cultural function in moral development. Kohlberg's theory rejected the cultural model of morality: the idea that morality is relative to one's society. However, is it possible to completely separate culture from moral beliefs? Moral reasoning is not completely independent. Works Cited Gibbs, J.C. (2010). Moral development and reality: beyond the theories of Kohlberg and Hoffman. Boston, MA. Pearson Education.Haidt, J. (2001). The emotional dog and his rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment. American Psychological Association, 814-834. Kohlberg, L. (1981). Essays on Moral Development Volume I: The Philosophy of Moral Development. New York, New York. Harper & Row. McNeil, J. (2013, November). Introduction to development. PSY210: Introduction to Development. Lecture conducted at the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
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