Moral Development

1. Moral Development

2. Morality • A concern with the distinction between right and wrong or between good and evil

3. Lawrence Kohlberg • The founding of Israel • The letter of the law vs. a higher law • How do people develop morally?

4. Kohlberg’s Method • Initial research: 10-16 year old boys • Interview: • Present a moral dilemma • Interested in the reasoning behind the answer

5. Dilemma: What would you do? In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. the drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $400 for the radium and charged $4,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money and tried every legal means, but he could only get together about $2,000, which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying, and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said, "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So, having tried every legal means, Heinz gets desperate and considers breaking into the man's store to steal the drug for his wife.

6. Stages of Moral Development • Pre-Conventional Morality (Level I) • Stage 1: Obedience and punishment orientation • Stage 2: Individualism and exchange • Conventional Morality (Level II) • Stage 3: Good boy/Good girl orientation • Stage 4: Law and order orientation

7. Stages of Moral Development • Post-Conventional Morality (Stage III) • Stage 5: Social contract orientation • Stage 6: Universal ethical principles

8. Criticisms of Kohlberg’s Theory • People should not place own principles above society and law • Kohlberg’s stages culturally biased • Gilligan: Kohlberg’s stages gender-biased

9. Gilligan’s Stages of Moral Development • Pre-Conventional: Goal is individual survival • Transition from selfishness to responsibility • Conventional: Self-sacrifice is goodness • Transition from goodness to truth that she is a person too • Post-Conventional: Principle of nonviolence

10. Religion

11. Religion as a Social Institution • Religion: • Set of institutionalized beliefs and practices that deal with the meaning of life • Beliefs and actions related to the supernatural • Relieves anxiety when the world doesn’t make sense

12. Elements of Religion • Religious Beliefs • Religious Rituals • Subjective Experience • Community

13. Elements of Religion • Religious Beliefs: • Define the supernatural/divine order, clarify humans’ role • Organize perceptions of the world • Create a guide for behavior

14. Elements of Religion • Religious Beliefs: • Myth: Narrative stories about supernatural forces or beings • Serve to express core beliefs and teach morality • Transmit information about survival and conservation • Doctrine: Direct statements about religious beliefs • Written, formal

15. Elements of Religion • Religious Rituals: • Formal enactments of religious beliefs • Activities have symbolic meanings

16. Elements of Religion • Religious Rituals: • Periodic rituals

17. Elements of Religion • Religious Rituals: • Periodic rituals • Life-cycle rituals • Separation • Transition • Reintegration

18. Elements of Religion • Religious Rituals: • Periodic rituals • Life-cycle rituals • Separation • Transition • Reintegration • Pilgrimage

19. Elements of Religion • Religious Rituals: • Periodic rituals • Life-cycle rituals • Separation • Transition • Reintegration • Pilgrimage • Rituals of inversion

20. Elements of Religion • Religious Rituals: • Periodic rituals • Life-cycle rituals • Separation • Transition • Reintegration • Pilgrimage • Rituals of inversion • Sacrifice

21. Elements of Religion • Subjective Experiences: • Arise out of rituals and beliefs • Religion provides framework to interpret inner states

22. Elements of Religion • Community: • Shared beliefs, rituals, experiences create a community of believers

23. An Evolutionary Model of Religion • Magic  Religion  Science • Magic: People’s attempt to compel supernatural forces/beings to act in certain ways • Imitative magic: • Contagious magic: • Arose out of need for explanation; esp. difference between living and dead • Animism:

24. A Functionalist Theory of Religion • Durkheim: Societies distinguish between • Sacred: That which is holy, inspires awe, must be treated with respect • Profane: Ordinary, everyday things that may be treated casually

25. A Functionalist Theory of Religion • Totem: Sacred emblem that members of a group treat with reverence • To Durkheim, totems were symbols of deity and symbols of society • Experiences we categorize as religious are responses to social forces • Role of science vs. role of religion

26. A Conflict Theory of Religion • Marx: • Religion serves the interests of the ruling elite • Masks the exploitation of the workers and the class inequality of capitalism • Alienation

27. Types of Religious Organizations • Established church • Organization that claims unique legitimacy • Has positive relationship with society

28. Types of Religious Organizations • Sect • Organization that claims unique legitimacy • Stands apart from society

29. Types of Religious Organizations • Denomination • Organization that accepts legitimacy of other religions • Has positive relationship with society

30. Types of Religious Organizations • Cult • Organization that accepts legitimacy of other religions • Has negative relationship with society

31. Dilemmas of Institutionalization • Mixed motivations • Symbol systems • Organization • Letter vs. spirit of religious law • Conversion vs. coercion