Question

A person who is arrested for stealing company documents says, "Yes, I did steal the documents, and I am willing to go to jail for it. These documents prove that the company was engaging in a cover-up of the unsafe properties of its chemical. I think the public has a right to know about it." Lawrence Kohlberg would classify this person as using ________ reasoning.

Answer 1

Answer:

This person is using post-conventional reasoning.

Explanation:

Kohlberg's stages of moral development center around 3 levels:

1. Pre-conventional: generally a child's sense of morality.
2. Conventional: the sense of morality develops according to social and personal relations.
3. Post-conventional: the sense of morality goes deeper, centering on more abstract principles. A post-conventionalist tends to live by his/her own principles.

In this case, the person arrested for stealing the documents states that he/she has a moral obligation to prove that the company is using unsafe chemicals and the public has a right to know about it.

His/her sense of morality goes deeper than any societal relation. The person acted to his/her own accord, deciding to take certain justice into his/her own hands, thus he/she is using post-conventional reasoning.