hello and welcome to the daniel man of reason channel dr. Lawrence Kohlberg was looking for a universal theory of moral development that transcended culture based on his research he concluded that moral development occurs in six stages which he divided into three levels here you can see how each stage is like a building block and you go from one stage to the next until you reach the top level one is called preconventional morality stages one and two are part of this level Stage one is about obedience and punishment at this stage you feel that morality comes from authority figures such as your parents and if you break the rules you get punished so you decide that obedience is the key and you behave in order to avoid getting punished Stage two is individualism and exchange at this stage you feel that people have different opinions about things so if everything is relative you might as well do what's best for you self-interest is the name of the game you notice that there are rewards for doing the right thing so you behave to get those rewards you're also willing to do things for other people if you think it will benefit you somehow level two is called conventional morality stages 3 & 4 are part of this level stage 3 is about good interpersonal relationships at the stage you care about your relationships with others such as your family friends and the community you want people to see you as being a good person so your morality is based on social approval you want to fit in you value things like love empathy and having good intentions stage 4 is about maintaining the social order at this stage you have a wider perspective on things you become aware of society as a whole you realize that laws are needed society to work so you follow the rules and obey the law this is more advanced because now you're thinking more about why things are wrong if everyone breaks the law society would fall apart level three is called post conventional morality stages five and six are part of this level Stage five is about the social contract and individual rates at this stage you see that just because the society is functioning it doesn't mean it's the best society so you ask yourself what makes a society good you conclude that we should have a social contract that we enter into which should benefit the majority yes people in the society have different views and opinions but everyone should have basic rates and there needs to be some kind of democratic process where we can change laws that don't work Stage six is about universal principles at this stage you realize that just because the majority agree on something it doesn't make it right the majority could make laws that are bad for a minority of the people so you begin to develop your own morals these morals are objective and universal they apply to everyone you believe in human rights justice for all and that everyone is equal and you will uphold your principles even if you have to go against society even if you have to face social rejection or be put in jail you will stand up for what you believe is right so let's summarize stage 1 was about obeying Authority and avoiding getting punished stage 2 was about choosing actions based on rewards stage 3 involves having good relationships by being a good person while stage 4 was about law and order in stage 5 it was about having a better society that benefits the majority and lastly stage 6 was true objective morality that applied to everyone and recognized human rights and encourages doing the right even if you have to break the law in the process if you found this video useful give it a lake you could also subscribe or even visit the Daniel Mann a recent a Facebook page thank you for watching and have a great day