Which stage of moral development are you at?

The  Cognitive moral development of human beings might be interesting topics also  for the people who are not students of philosophy or business professionals. I am writing this page about the different stages of moral development of human based on the cognitive moral development(CMD) by philosopher Lawrence Kohlberg.  According to him the moral development is proportional to age but not in all cases(its from my understanding). Nevertheless age is one of the biggest factor in  cognitive moral development. In school stage most of the students tend to be pre-conventional stage and post-conventional towards the end of the life due to the  set of moral(ethical) values learned during their life. This study also helps to deal with the people at different ages, positions etc, knowing that what they give emphasis in at their stage. 

 Kohlberg  explained CMD in 3 stages and 2 sub-stages in each.

1.Pre-conventional-

   1.1. Obedience and punishment- This stage is “carry out orders” . People in this stage, the judgement of “right and wrong” depends on the reward and punishment. If wrong doing DANDA (stick) or boot on the bum. The other situation might be in army job. For example,now, our people Gurkhas are working in front line in Afghanistan on the behalf of British army They should be ready to attack on civilians or minors if they are ordered because they will be punished  from their commanders or government or allies if they do not obey it. That might be one reason most of the people working in such areas are young people.

   1.2. instrumental purpose and exchange- This stage is “scratch my back , I will scratch yours”. One colleague is ready to  put overload on the top of his own job responsibilities  for his colleague because his colleague will do the same for him another day when needed.

2. Conventional-

   2.1. Interpersonal accord and conformity- This stage is ” everybody is doing it, why not me” . Person cares about how his/her peers, colleagues think about him/her. In this stage person, for example, doesn’t use phone and email facilities in the office(work) for personal use in the begining and starts if other colleagues have already started using it.

   2.2. social accord and system maintenance- This stage is “law and order”. Person cares about not only what peers or collegues think about him/her but does care about  what whole society or community think about him/her. 

3. Post conventional-

   3.1. social contract and individual rights-

Moral action in a specific situation is not defined by reference to a checklist of rules, but from logical application of universal, abstract, moral principles. Individuals have natural or inalienable rights and liberties that are prior to society and must be protected by society. Retributive justice repudiated. Justice distributed proportionate to circumstances and need. “Situation ethics.” The statement, “Justice demands punishment,” which is a self-evident truism to the Stage 4 mind, is just as self-evidently nonsense at Stage 5. Retributive punishment is neither rational nor just, because it does not promote the rights and welfare of the individual. Only legal sanctions that fulfill that purpose are imposed– protection of future victims, deterrence, and rehabilitation. Individual acts out of mutual obligation and a sense of public good. Right action tends to be defined in terms of general individual rights, and in terms of standards that have been critically examined and agreed upon by the whole society–e.g. the Constitution. The freedom of the individual should be limited by society only when it infringes upon someone else’s freedom.

   3.2. Universal ethical principles-An individual who reaches this stage acts out of universal principles based upon the equality and worth of all human beings. Persons are never means to an end, but are ends in themselves. Having rights means more than individual liberties. It means that every individual is due consideration of his interests in every situation, those interests being of equal importance with ones own. This is the “Golden Rule” model. A list of rules inscribed in stone is no longer necessary

Note- my writing is on the half way