Chapter 3: Values and Morals:Guidelines for living - Psychological ...
Chapter 3: Values and Morals:Guidelines for living - Psychological ...
Chapter 3: Values and Morals:Guidelines for living - Psychological ...
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empathic process is to find a "reversible" solution, one that would be<br />
seen as equally just from each person's perspective <strong>and</strong> considered<br />
fair by a high percentage of rationally thinking people. Example: (1)<br />
Imagine the situation of a poor dying patient, her husb<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> a<br />
druggist who wants $1000.00 profit (10 times its cost) <strong>for</strong> an effective<br />
drug <strong>and</strong> (2) imagine how each would feel in the other's shoes, e.g.<br />
how the patient would feel as the druggist, the druggist as the dying<br />
patient, the patient as the husb<strong>and</strong> thinking about stealing the drug,<br />
etc. A solution that might result from this process would be <strong>for</strong> the<br />
druggist to give the patient the drug, <strong>and</strong> the couple, in turn, would<br />
agree to pay <strong>for</strong> it by working part-time <strong>for</strong> the druggist after the<br />
patient gets well. As we will see later, an 11-year-old girl in Gilligan's<br />
study (1982) arrived at a similar solution.<br />
Current theorists believe it takes time (40-50 years), experience<br />
with different cultures <strong>and</strong> values, emotional maturity, self-control <strong>and</strong><br />
self-esteem, considerable thought about values, <strong>and</strong>/or moral<br />
development training to acquire this kind of moral reasoning. I suspect<br />
stages 5 <strong>and</strong> 6 will be achieved at age 12 or 14, when we know<br />
enough to provide the proper training <strong>and</strong> experience at that age.<br />
Good but extraordinary examples of stage 6 morality are Jesus Christ<br />
(he spoke cogently of universal principles but he died at age 33!), St.<br />
Francis of Assisi, Albert Schweitzer, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther<br />
King (he became a civil rights activist at age 26!), <strong>and</strong> Sister Teresa of<br />
Calcutta. Don't let this awesome list of saintly people scare you or<br />
discourage you. Try to become a stage 5 or 6 person by finding some<br />
good causes you are willing to argue <strong>for</strong>, decide what lifestyle you<br />
most value, <strong>and</strong> start doing it.<br />
As you underst<strong>and</strong> these stages better, you may underst<strong>and</strong> more<br />
about why you have made certain moral decisions in the past. Also,<br />
you will realize that you <strong>and</strong> everyone else operate on several levels at<br />
the same time. For example, you may avoid shoplifting <strong>for</strong> the fear of<br />
punishment (stage 1), you may watch your little brother carefully to<br />
be sure he doesn't get more attention than you (stage 2), you may<br />
want to impress your parents or a teacher (stage 3), you may<br />
unthinkingly en<strong>for</strong>ce school rules as a monitor (stage 4), <strong>and</strong> you may<br />
be active in the women's movement or help support a child in India<br />
through CARE (stage 5 or 6). Furthermore, you may find your moral<br />
reasoning on one level <strong>and</strong> your behavior on another: 20% of the<br />
people at stage 6 of moral reasoning still con<strong>for</strong>med (stage 3 or 4)<br />
when asked by an authority to hurt another person (Kohlberg, 1984).<br />
Likewise, my value system says I should share most of my worldly<br />
possessions, but often I don't (partly because most people would think<br />
I was weird <strong>and</strong> stupid).<br />
Are women's values different from men's values?<br />
This section is based in large part on a book by Carol Gilligan<br />
(1982), who as a research assistant with Lawrence Kohlberg became<br />
aware that women responded differently than men to moral dilemmas.<br />
She decided to study these differences more closely rather than<br />
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