Kohlberg and His Life

Lawrence Kohlberg was born on October 25, 1927 was born in Bronxville, New York. He served as a professor at the University of Chicago as well as Harvard University. He is famous for his work in moral education, reasoning, and development. Being a close follower of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, Kohlberg's work reflects and perhaps even extends his predecessor's work. This work is further extended and modified by such scholars like Carol Gilligan.

Lawrence Kohlberg grew up in a wealthy family and attended Phillips Academy, a private and renowned high school. During World War II, following his high school education, he enlisted and became an engineer on a carrier ship. On that ship he and his shipmates decided to aid Jews escaping Europe to Palestine. They accomplished this by smuggling them in banana crates that were secretly beds, fooling government inspectors that formed the British blockade to the region.

After his service in the war, he applied to the University of Chicago, in 1948. He tested extremely high on his entrance, and received his bachelor's degree in psychology in just one year. Kohlberg stayed in the University of Chicago for his graduate work, becoming fascinated with children's moral reasoning and the earlier works of Jean Piaget and others. He wrote his doctoral dissertation there in 1958, outlining what is now his stages of moral development.

Kohlberg believed and was able to demonstrate through studies that people progressed in their moral reasoning (i.e., in their bases for ethical behavior) through a series of stages. He believed that there were six identifiable stages which could be more generally classified into three levels.

The first level of moral thinking is generally found at the elementary school level. In the first stage, children behave according to socially acceptable normalities because they are told to do so by some authority figure. They listen or else they face a punishment.

The second level of moral thinking is generally found in society, hence the name "conventional." The first stage of this level is characterized by an attitude which seeks to gain the approval of others. The second stage is defined as following the law and responding to the obligations of duty.

The third level of moral thinking is one that Kohlberg felt is not reached by the majority of adults. Its first stage is an understanding of social mutuality and a general concern for others. The last stage is based on respect for universal principle and the demands of individual conscience.

Kohlberg believed that individuals could only progress through these stages one stage at a time. Thus, according to Kohlberg, it was important to present them with moral dilemmas for discussion which would help them to see the reasonableness of a "higher stage" morality and encourage their development in that direction.

Kohlberg then taught in 1962 at the University of Chicago in