Am. psychologist with his Theory of Moral Development, he studied education, anthropology, and philosophy his theory is about the development of moral judgement and moral behavior

Person's overall development that follows over the course of a lifetime

like growth, it takes place according to pre-determined sequence

Stage theory everyone goes through stages sequentially w/out skipping any stage

Assessed moral reasoning by posing hypothetical moral dilemmas and examining the reasoning behind people's answers

What are the 3 Levels of Moral Reasoning?

Identify what level: Moral reasoning is based on external rewards and punishments

Identify what level: Consequences of one's action

Identify what level: desire to avoid punishment or gain reward

Identify what level: Typically children under the age of 3-7

Obey rules and avoid being punished.An action is perceived as morally wrong because the perpetrator is punished; the worse punishment for the act is, the more "bad" the act is perceived to be

Example: "I will keep quiet so the teacher won't get mad at me".

What's in for me?position in w/c right behavior is defined by whatever the individual believes to be in their best interest

Concern for others is not based on loyalty or intrinsic respect but rather as "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours" mentality

Child is asked by a parent to do a chore. The child asks "what's in it for me?" and the parents offer the child an incentive by giving him an allowance

Identify what level: laws and rules are upheld simply because they are rules and laws

Age 8-13

Identify what level: Reasoning is based from the norms of the group to which the person belongs

Good boy, Nice girl attitude

Children want approval of others and act I ways to avoid disapproval

Emphasis is placed on good behavior and people being nice to others

Ex: a child gives away her lunch to a street peasant because she thinks doing so means being nice

Child blindly accepts rules and convention because of their importance in maintaining a functioning society

Following laws established by society, even when there is no one there to punish you, is what makes u a good citizen

Ex: "You should not cut the class because it's against school rules".

Identify what level: reasoning is based on personal moral standards

Adulthood

Throughout this level, person's sense of morality is defined in terms of more abstract principles and values

Identify what level: People believe that some laws are unjust and should be changed or eliminated

Identify what level: Live by their own ethical principles- principles that typically include such basic human rights as life, liberty and justice- and view rules as useful but changeable mechanisms rather than absolute dictates that must be obeyed w/out question

world is viewed as holding different opinions, rights and values

Perspectives should be mutually respected as unique to each person or community

Those that do not promote the general welfare should be changed when necessary to meet the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Ex: It is her own decision, we should respect that

People have developed their own set of moral guidelines w/c may or may not fit it's law

Profound respect for sanctity of human life, nonviolence, equality and human dignity

Moral principles take precedence over laws that might conflict with them

Conscientious objectors- refuses to be drafted because they are morally opposed to war

Ex: "If abortion became legal in our country l, I will be one of the people who will be against God:s law".

I will buy that dress so that my friends will like me

Fourth grade girl refrains from running in the hallway to avoid the consequences involved in breaking the school rules

I will let you copy mine if you do my homework

We will not vote for a law that aid some people but hurt others

One school teacher devised the most effective strategy for getting the students to class on time-latecomers do push ups in front of the class

Look at the consequences- the results of an action- to decide whether it is right or wrong

Form of consequentialism. Holds the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number

Derived from latin "utilis" which means useful

Basically states what is useful is good

This ethical system is basically hedonistic as it identifies happiness with pleasure

Theory of morality that advocates actions that foster happiness or pleasure and oppose actions that cause unhappiness or harm

Is the belief that pleasure or the absence of pain is the most important principle in determining the morality of a potential course of action

HEDONISM is a type consequentialism with several forms:

The idea that pleasure should be people's primary motivation

Says that only pleasure and pain cause people to do what they do

Requires a person to consider only his or her own pleasure in making choice

Says that the creation of pleasure for all people is the best way to measure if an action is ethical

Born in 1748, child prodigy, Oxford, lawyer died at 84

Acc. to him man is under two great masters, pain and pleasure

The great good that we should seek is happiness (a hedonistic perspective)

Those actions whose results increase happiness or diminish pain are good, they have "utility"

The principle of utility: Utility= the usefulness of the results of actions

People are essentially seekers of pleasures and avoiders of pain

For him, nothing else but pleasure is intrinsically good

Application of Utilitarianism of BENTHAM: A. You attempt to help an elderly man across the street. He gets across safely

B. You attempt to help an elderly man across the street. You stumble as you go, he is knocked into the path of a car, and is hurt

Most famous proponent of Utilitarianism after Bentham

Like Bentham, He advocates "the greatest happiness principle"

It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong

Distinguished b/w higher and lower pleasures

Physical pleasures belong to lower pleasures or those w/c animals can experience too, such as those from food, drink and sex

He believed that some pleasures are intrinsically superior to others. He basically means intellectual, which includes artistic, political and even spiritual pleasures as higher pleasures

These are more desirable and more valuable and are exclusive to humans, like the pleasure that accompany reading a good novel or poetry, listening to music, enjoying visual arts, meditating on nature and solving complex scientific problems

For him, a happiness that is made up principally of higher pleasures is a higher, deeper, truer and more valuable form of happiness

Act Utilitarian

Rule Utilitarian

Makes a utilitarian judgement about each act individually

Adopt general rules about the kinds of actions that tend to produce happiness

He equated happiness with pleasure

Hedonistic

Emphasis on pleasure

Pleasures same value

Principle of Utility

Concerned with quantity over pleasure

Labelled an Act Utilitarian

Focus on Individual Situations

Non hedonistic

Emphasis on happiness

Higher/lower pleasures

Greatest Happiness Principle

Concerned with quality of pleasure

Labelled a rule Utilitarian

Focus on protecting common good universally

Treating everyone fairly under established rules and laws. For ex: classroom rules

Means giving each person what he/she deserves or, in more traditional terms, giving each person his/her due

Concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, religion, equity and fairness

He claims that Justice is the first virtue of social institutions as truth is of systems of thought

Treating all people with honesty and respect

Giving everyone equal opportunities to succeed

Cooperating with one another

Celebrating uniqueness and value of everyone