The term moral development was coined in the early 1900s to describe a process by which people acquire new habits and ways of thinking about and focusing on different things.
Today, moral development remains an important focus of academic research, as it can have a significant impact on future social and cognitive development. For example, not being able to properly mature physically at an early age can have a negative effect on later physical and psychological health.
In terms of moral development, there are several theories that try to explain how different habits and thoughts about things develop. One of the most popular theories is the two-step process that was described by Sigmund Freud and Josephine Jackett Freud. This theory describes how people first become conscious of morals through their parents’ teachings, but when they fail to follow those teachings, they develop second-hand ideas about what is right and wrong from other people’s behavior.
Emil Kraepelin
Emil Kraepelin was a doctor in the late 1800s and early 1900s who advocated moral development being a process, not a set of stages. He believed that we weren’t born with a sense of right and wrong, and that as we grow, we develop additional systems for processing information about right and wrong.
He believed that as we grew up, our awareness of right and wrong changed due to new information about world events and human behavior. This change in thinking was called awareness growth.
He believed that when we were children, we relied on moral development to be slow and steady. We thought moral development would be like looking through a series of blind windows before you opened the door to real life, where you have to physically move through them.
But he knew this wasn’t true. He had young patients come to him years later with questions about what they saw in their childhood that gave them moral development.
William James
Many theories about moral development assume that there is a stage in which people understand what is right and wrong, and then they go through the process of moral development.
This theory has been called the moral development theory of ethics. This theory assumes that there is one stage in which people understand what is right and wrong, and that is for the purpose of learning how to do what is right in certain situations.
This assumption is made without looking at the evidence, as there are many ways to measure morality. For example, how people feel about money isn’t signs of a progressing person, but rather signs of basic needs metness.
Sigmund Freud
Another myth that has gone unchallenged for too long is that different people have different moral systems and beliefs, and that these beliefs and systems are “moral” or “moralized.”
This notion has been widely believed, equated with other ideas like the idea of a right and wrong way of thinking, and assumed to be part of every person from birth. It is thus difficult or impossible to change.
Yet this assumption about moral development is just one part of the story: the rest of the story is what was left out. The assumption about development on one side of the fence leads to assumptions about what should be developed on the other.
This myth about development can lead to arguments being conducted from different sides of an issue on behalf of people in need of a better understanding of themselves and the world around them, but only when there is time for dialogue.
Erik Erikson
A classic conception of development is the “ethos” or basic set of values and behaviors that characterize a person at any given time. This “ethos” is typically characterized by a set of behaviors that change with social, cultural, and intellectual changes.
This sense of self can be characterized by concepts such as obligation, responsibility, achievement, esteem, and permanence.
Since the 1950s, there has been a widespread belief in the American school system and in international schools that moral development requires different stages for different people. For example, in the 1950s and 1960s, when children were taught about moral issues through fiction or nonfiction sources such as plays and serials, they were considered moral beings at an early stage in their development.
Because this earlier phase was thought to be non-cognitively developed, they were given different kinds of messages—for example, that sex should be kept secret; that it is wrong to kill; and so on—and then they would develop these concepts of right and wrong and how to behave correctly. This was thought to happen through reading books or other sources.
Lawrence Kohlberg
One of the most common explanations for the differences in moral development between children and adults is Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. This theory has been used to explain the difference in moral development between young children (such as infants) and adults (such as lawyers).
Kohlberg was a researcher who studied how early childhood education systems worked and how they gave out low-quality education. He decided to examine what children were taught in school, looking at what kind of education he received and whether or not he developed a sense of morality.
His theory states that at an early stage of development, you develop a sense of morality based on what is rewarded by society. When this doesn’t exist, you develop a sense of morality based on what is considered right or wrong by people. This can be seen in people who are older than child age, when they use the wrong words or phrases todefine their morality.
Thomas Hobbes
Hobbes was a very influential philosopher during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. His moral philosophy has been called both Leviathan and Theumaque, meaning leader or author of a book.
His political philosophy is often referred to as Theumaque, meaning author of a book. He was a major influence on our current political system, since he was the first to write about a republic, a monarchy ruled by one person with limited powers, and an aristocracy ruled by one person with great powers.
If you were ever asked to describe Hobbes in one word, you would use that same simple word: powerful. He was an assertive ruler who knew how to use his position to advantage. This is not saying he did not listen to others, but his response was always wanting more power!
This is what led him to develop both moral and political systems that were highly selfish in nature.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
A key question for anyone teaching moral development is who believed that moral development follows a series of stages. Though it has been said and written about for years, the idea that development occurs in stages and that one must be careful not to overreach while developing is still new and controversial.
Many early moral philosophers believed that one must still strive to develop one’s intellectual, economic, social, emotional, and spiritual selves in addition to one’s moral self.
This was seen as necessary in order to maintain a healthy personal identity with the world around us and with ourselves. We need to be able to think clearly, speak our truth, feel emotions surrounding issues we are confronted with, and handle ourselves with proper manners or I don’t believe they were believing in God until they saw the power of this life-changing doctrine.
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke is considered to be one of the fathers of American philosophy. He is considered to be the father of moral philosophy and ethics in our nation.
Burke was a famous philosopher at the time he wrote his Reflections on the Revolution, which helped shape modern thinking on government and politics. He also wrote A Treatise on Government, another great source of contemporary political thinking.
Both of these sources offer valuable insight into how we should govern our country and what rights we should respect. While cognitive development focuses on what people understand, moral development focuses on whether or not people act upon that understanding.
If humans do not believe that something is wrong, then they do not think about whether or not it is right. This can have serious consequences when it comes to justice and rights.
