Moral Development and Intensity Factors
This week’s content discussed the stages of moral development as well as a variety of moral intensity factors. Consider and comment on the following:
Identify one well-known person today (politician, celebrity, etc.) who appears to be a pre-conventional moral reasoner, and describe how they demonstrate this?
Do the same thing for one person who appears to be a principled moral reasoner.
Course Feedback: Please reflect on your time in this course and our time together. Discuss one aspect of the course you liked and one aspect of the course that you would like to see change.
Sample Answer
here are two examples of well-known people today who appear to be pre-conventional and principled moral reasoners, respectively:
Pre-conventional moral reasoner: Donald Trump. Trump has repeatedly made decisions that seem to be motivated by self-interest or a desire to please his supporters, even when those decisions have caused harm to others. For example, he has withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change, even though this decision is likely to have a negative impact on the environment. He has also imposed tariffs on goods from China, which has hurt American businesses and consumers. Trump’s decisions seem to be based on a belief that the strong should rule the weak, and that the ends justify the means. This is consistent with the pre-conventional stage of moral development, in which people make moral decisions based on rewards and punishments, or on their own needs and desires.