A Study of Kohlberg’s Structural Theory of Moral Development: a Critique of Liberal Social Science Ideology

This article attempts a critical analysis of Kohlberg’s stage theory of moral development in the context of an ideology critique. From this point of view, Kohlberg’s stage theory is characterized as a species of ‘liberal ideology’. The analysis of his postconventional stages relies on Rawls’ criticism of the conception of a ‘just community’. The critique of Rawls’ is reflecting upon Kohlberg’s theory since it draws heavily from this ‘liberal’ conception of justice. A critical analysis of Piaget’s structuralism is briefly noted relating it to Kohlberg’s developmental structuralism. The separations of thought from action, is from ought, are analyzed as weaknesses stemming from this structural point of view.