PSYC14H3 Chapter 7 & 12: PSYC14 Final Notes (3E)
Morality, Religion and Justice 3/22/2018 5:03:00 PM
o secularization theory: a view that religion is on the decline and that
people around the world are turning to secular and rational ways of
understanding their lives (science)
• but in actuality, religion seems to be growing in all parts of the
world …
• and growing hostility between different faiths
ETHNOCENTRISM AND INTERPRETING CULTURAL VARIABILITY
• ethnocentrism leads people to assume that their own culture’s way
of life is in some ways better or more natural than that of others
• extremely difficult to avoid because people are socialized to think in
ways consistent with their cultural values
• makes it hard to have standards in psychological studies
• EX: different ways to operationalize quality of life
KOHLBERG’S STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
• cognitive abilities underlie moral reasoning and that these abilities
progress as individuals develop, mature, and are educated
• proposed to capture development of moral reasoning in all cultures
of the world
Level 1: Pre-conventional Level
• = moral reasoning in which rightness is determined by the physical
or hedonistic (self-indulgence/pleasure) consequences of the
behavior
• what determines whether an action is good or bad is whether it
satisfies one’s own needs, and occasionally the needs of others
• ~ ethic of divinity
Level 2: Conventional Level
• = moral reasoning in which rightness is determined by whether the
behaviors fit with the group’s rules or laws
• about following the rules, and individuals should not question where
those rules come from
• ~ ethic of community
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Level 3: Post-conventional Level
• = moral reasoning in which rightness is determined by whether the
behavior meets abstract ethical principles of justice and individual
rights
• whether others agree with you or whether there are rules that
contradict you are independent of whether the action is viewed to
be moral
• ~ ethic of autonomy
Cross-cultural Evidence for Kohlberg’s Model
• participants are presented with moral dilemmas and are asked to
choose the right solution to that dilemma
• researchers are more interested in the reasoning, rather than
answers
• proposed to be universal because the levels are always seen to
follow sequentially
• NOT proposed to be universal is the levels that different cultures
reach
o universality for pre-conventional and conventional
o but only post-conventional found in western samples and not
traditional populations
• why is this?
1. traditional societies do not provide the educational experiences
necessary for their members to reason about justice and
individual rights in post-conventional terms
2. different environments and people develop a moral framework
that best fits their environment possible other categories of
moral reasoning that are missing
ETHICS OF AUTONOMY, COMMUNITY AND DIVINITY
• ethic of autonomy: system of values that views morality in terms
of individual freedoms and rights violations with an emphasis on
personal choice, the right to engage in free contracts, and individual
liberty
o argued that Kohlberg’s model only has this
o immoral if it directly hurts another person
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o EX: stealing someone’s lunch money
o seems to be universal
• ethic of community: system of values that emphasizes that
individuals have duties pertaining to their roles in a community or
social hierarchy
o immoral when people fail to perform duties
o EX: not going to parents wedding because don’t feel like it
• ethic of divinity: a system of values that emphasizes that sanctity
and the perceived “natural order” of things
o immoral if sinning against the sacredness of God
o EX: caricaturizing Muhammed is an offense to Muslims
Ethic of Community
• different from emphasis on individual rights
• women more likely to reason this way than men (debate)
Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft Relations
• 2 ways individuals can relate to each other in a group …
• gemeinschaft: type of group that emphasizes interpersonal
relationships as core parts of individuals identities and views such
relationships as ends in themselves
o community; typically smaller folk organizations
o EX: nuclear family
• gesellschaft: type of group that emphasizes individual member’s
autonomy and views relationships as instrumental and as means to
other ends
o association/society
o more characteristic of Western societies
o follow rules formed out of public consensus
o not expected to behave in pro-social way so need formalized
rules to keep people in line
Ethic of Community in India
• moral obligations are different from other responsibilities …
o objective obligations … people act in a way even if there is no
law … more of convention if there is a law
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