Kohlberg, Lawrence (1927–1987)

Lawrence Kohlberg, a psychologist and a professor at Harvard University, investigated the individual's moral reasoning, which led to the creation of his theory of moral development. Born in Bronxville, New York, Kohlberg began his career as a developmental psychologist in the early 1970s before moving to the field of moral education where he fashioned his wellknown stages of moral development, which traced an individual's progression of moral reasoning across identifiable, universal moral perspectives. Kohlberg died under suspicious circumstances, probably suicide, after contracting a parasitic infection, which caused him to suffer for 16 years.

Kohlberg's work was influenced primarily by Jean Piaget, a cognitive developmentalist. Based on a longterm study conducted at Harvard's Center for Moral Education, Kohlberg recorded responses provided by his male subjects, beginning at ...