ABSTRACT
Tomlinson's chapter is helpful in that it reiterates some important problems associated with Kohlberg's theory, this time in the light of more recent empirical evidence. Thus, I fully agree with Tomlinson in his criticism of Kohlberg's cognitive stage structuralism, an excessive focus upon justice reasoning while attempting to capture and describe moral development, an exaggerated emphasis on form vs. content in moral reasoning, etc. In fact, I would be even more critical than Tomlinson has been when it comes to some of the points just mentioned. However, my task on this occasion has been to evaluate that which I see as positive in Kohlberg's contribution to psychology and this in no way conflicts with the arguments put forth by Tomlinson. For that matter, our respective contributions to this volume could be seen as truly complementary rather than opposing since I discuss those aspects of Kohlberg's theory to which Tomlinson makes no reference at all, notably the notion of autonomy and Stage 7.
