Lawrence Kohlberg - An Introduction

This introductory text examines the life and work of Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987), who was one of the key figures in generating theories of human development. Following James Mark Baldwin and Jean Piaget, Kohlberg designed a research program in order to understand moral development - which he viewed as justice development - during the life-span. With the help of dilemma-interviews and a comprehensive scoring manual, he looked into the stages of development and the moral points of view of children, adolescents, and adults. He examined central topics, such as the relationship between judgment and action, the transnational universality of moral development, and gender-related morality. His innovative interdisciplinary work embraced the fields of developmental psychology, philosophy, and education, among others. His research was inspiring in many aspects and will continue to be so for years to come.