In contrast to my view, moral psychology-like much of…

In contrast to my view, moral psychology-like much of moral philosophy-links moral behavior with verbal reasoning and ration any. Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of cognitive development, for instance, assumes a logical progression of three levels of moral un derstanding (each subdivided into two stages). At the lowest level,young children define the meaning of what is right in terms of "I like it," that is, a selfish evaluation of what brings rewards and avoids punishment. At the intermediate "conventional" level, older children and adults judge what is virtuous by whether "the group approves," that is, by authority or one's reference group. At the highest "postconventional" level, what is right is defined by objec-tive, abstract, and universal principles detached from the self or the group. In Kohlberg's words: "We claim that there is a universally valid form of rational moral thought process which all per-sons could articulate."

— from True North (Ethics, Integrity, Truth, Values) · Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious by Gerd Gigerenzer

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