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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
We should acknowledge the limitations of our understanding of human experiences rather than pretend we have complete knowledge.
Lawrence Kohlberg emphasizes the importance of recognizing the inadequacies in our psychological understanding of significant human experiences. Instead of hiding behind a facade of certainty, it is crucial to be transparent about our shortcomings and indicate the directions we need to explore, thereby fostering a quest for deeper insights and knowledge.
Themes
PsychologyHuman ExperiencesKnowledgeUnderstandingSelf-Awareness
In practice
Example use cases
During a psychology conference discussing the limitations of theories in explaining human behavior.
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.
Lawrence KohlbergRead
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.
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.
Lawrence KohlbergRead
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.
Lawrence KohlbergRead
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.
Lawrence KohlbergRead
Similar quotes
People need to be fed, medicated, educated, clothed, and sheltered, and if we're compassionate we'll help them, but you get no moral credit for forcing other people to do what you think is right. There is great joy in helping people, but no joy in doing it at gunpoint.
Penn JilletteRead
Liberty cannot be guaranteed by law. Nor by any thing else except the resolution of free citizens to defend their liberties.
Edward AbbeyRead
I didn't think of myself as an outsider because of my race because... where I grew up I was the same race as almost everyone else... It is true that I noticed things that no one else seemed to notice. And I think only people who are outsiders do this.
Jamaica KincaidRead
But above all, in order to be, never try to seem.
Albert CamusRead
The fact is, the most painful and tragic lesson of the 20th century was that regimes based on racial superiority and religious hatred can't be trusted to keep their word to the international community.
Michael BloombergRead
A government can be compared to our lungs. Our lungs are best when we don't realize they are helping us breathe. It is when we are constantly aware of our lungs that we know they have come down with an illness.
LaoziRead