Huckleberry Finn Handout: Levels of moral reasoning
According to Lawrence Kohlberg
Level 1. Avoiding punishment
Level 2. Self-interest: What’s in it for me?
Level 3. Conformity: Being a “good” boy/girl
Level 4. Keeping order: We need law and order
Level 5. Social contract/human rights: How do we create the right kind of society?
Level 6. Universal ethical principles: What is good?
Kohlberg used “moral dilemmas” to assess the level of reasoning people used to solve moral problems. Here’s the most famous one:
A woman was near death from a unique kind of cancer. There is a drug that might save her. The drug costs $4,000 per dosage. 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 asked the doctor scientist who discovered the drug for a discount or let him pay later. But the doctor scientist refused.
Should Heinz break into the laboratory to steal the drug for his wife? Why or why not?
From a theoretical point of view, it is not important what the participant thinks that Heinz should do. The point of interest is the justification that the participant offers. Below are examples of possible arguments that belong to the six stages. It is important to keep in mind that these arguments are only examples. It is possible that a participant reaches a completely different conclusion using the same stage of reasoning:
- Stage one (obedience): Heinz should not steal the medicine, because otherwise he will be put in prison.
- Stage two(self-interest): Heinz should steal the medicine, because he will be much happier if he saves his wife, even if he will have to serve a prison sentence.
- Stage three (conformity): Heinz should steal the medicine, because his wife expects it.
- Stage four (law-and-order): Heinz should not steal the medicine, because the law prohibits stealing.
- Stage five (human rights): Heinz should steal the medicine, because everyone has a right to live, regardless of the law. Or: Heinz should not steal the medicine, because the scientist has a right to fair compensation.
- Stage six (universal human ethics): Heinz should steal the medicine, because saving a human life is a more fundamental value than the property rights of another person. Or: Heinz should not steal the medicine, because that violates the golden rule of honesty and respect.
- Stage seven (transcendental morality): Heinz should not steal the medicine, because he and his wife should accept the sickness as part of the natural cycle of life-and-death and instead enjoy their time left together.