It is hardly plausible to view a whole succession of logics as an evolutionary and functional program of innate wiring, particularly in light of the fact that the most mature logical structures are reached only by some adults.
Lawrence KohlbergRead
All individuals in all cultures use the same thirty basic moral categories, concepts, or principles, and all individuals in all cultures go through the same order or sequence of gross stage development, though they vary in rate and terminal point of development.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Moral development is universal across cultures, following a similar progression despite differences in speed and outcomes.
Lawrence Kohlberg's quote emphasizes that regardless of cultural differences, all humans share the same fundamental moral principles and undergo a similar sequence of developmental stages in their moral reasoning. While the pace and final achievement of these stages may differ among individuals and societies, the underlying structure of moral understanding remains consistent across the globe.
Themes
MoralityDevelopmentCulturePrinciplesStages
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about cultural similarities, one might use this quote to illustrate the commonality in human values.
More from Lawrence Kohlberg
All quotes →The unit of effectiveness of education is not the individual but the group. An individual's moral values are primarily important for society as they contribute to a moral social climate, not as they induce particular pieces of behavior.
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It seems obvious that moral stages must primarily be the products of the child's interaction with others rather than the direct unfolding of biological or neurological structures.
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If our psychology seems crude and weak in what it can say about the great human experiences, it is better to make that clear and to mark where we must go than to ignore it.
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Although it may be true that the notion of teaching virtues such as honesty or integrity arouses little controversy, it is also true that vague consensus on the goodness of these virtues conceals a great deal of actual disagreement over their definitions.
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The arguments about parents being too permissive and kids growing up without superegos are not based on fact. Our research tells us that the family is not the only purveyor of morality.
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