ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a claim to moral superiority or adequacy of a certain type of moral reasoning which has been put forth by the psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg. It begins with a brief summary of some of the main tenets of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. The chapter explores Kohlberg’s psychological and methodological claims concerning the moral adequacy of his Stage 5 of moral reasoning. It provides an investigation of the metaethical and normative claims, showing that also Kohlberg’s claim to the moral adequacy of higher stage reasoning is not well supported. Kohlberg believes that there are universal stages of moral development and that these stages constitute both a hierarchy of cognitive development and a corresponding hierarchy of objective moral adequacy. The chapter analyzes Kohlberg’s claim that the psychological data support the contention that Stage 5 are more adequate than the lower stages.
