Moral Development

The Roots of Moral Development

Moral development finds root in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). Kant's conception of morality was based on duty and performance regardless of circumstance or consequence. Morality depended upon the distinction between actions directed by hypothetical imperatives and actions directed by categorical imperatives. To Kant, hypothetical imperatives predicated on the just reward principle were the antithesis of moral behavior. Only categorical imperatives represented a higher order of morality, a universal law.

Kant constructed a dichotomy of morality, contrasting heteronomous morality with autonomous morality. Heteronomous morality depended upon external authority such as God or obedience to the state. Autonomous morality was a personal choice, a free will, where actions were based on individual conscience. Moral actions, as conceived by Kant, were both altruistic and formalist in concept. A formalist perceived moral development to occur in stages of universal categorical imperatives (moral rules) that guided social action. An altruist perceived moral development to be based solely in self-sacrifice and the desire to help others, a tenet of prosocial behavior.

The 20th-century developmental psychologist Jean Piaget based his theories of moral development on the prosocial behavior of children during play. Piaget's theory of moral development displayed the Kantian influence of formalism. Piaget observed children's application of rules as they played. He interviewed young children to determine their reactions to acts such as stealing and lying. Piaget found that young children's moral [Page 575]reasoning could rarely go beyond the formalist concept of a forbidden act. Piaget concluded that within this heteronomous stage of moral reasoning, a child made moral decisions based on duties, rules, and obedience to authority. Additionally, Piaget found that a young child's moral reasoning was egocentric and founded on a form of moral realism. Moral realism, a form of hypothetical imperative, would, for example, value the letter of the law above the purpose. Young children were more concerned about the outcome of the action than the underlying intent. Powerless, young children adhered to principles of immanent justice, expecting punishment to be the natural result of wrongdoing. Piaget determined that as children matured, moral reasoning became autonomous. Older children's level of moral awareness commonly assigned importance to the intention of the act and concepts of mutual respect and cooperation. This shift from egocentric morality to perspective taking was a significant stage in Piaget's theory of moral development.

Kantian formalism also served as a guideline for the academic moral philosophy of Lawrence Kohlberg. Concepts of heteronomous and autonomous morality were reflected in the stages of moral development proposed by Kohlberg. Styles of moral reasoning within the Kohlberg theory of moral development were universal and predictable and based on issues of moral and political justice. The six stages of moral thought consisted of three levels with two stages in each set. As the individual developed ability to reason morally he or she progressed through stages moving from morality based on hypothetical imperatives to morality based on categorical imperatives.

...