Piaget explained the developmental sequence of moral thinking as follows: A child starts out with egocentrism, then moves through a period of egocentric development, until he reaches mature egocentricity. During his adolescent growth spurt, he begins to develop a sense of justice and fairness. Finally, as he matures, he becomes increasingly concerned about the welfare of others. Lawrence Kohlberg proposed that the stages of moral development were the same, except that they occurred at different times in life. For example, if we consider the relationship between self-interest and altruism, people who have not yet reached the third stage may think that the interests of others come before their own. However, once they realize that they can benefit themselves by acting morally, they begin to care more about what happens to others. The conventional level of morality incorporates an understanding of people’s motives. In the first, “good boy–nice girl” stage, the adolescent conform to social norms, but is replaced in the next stage by respect for authorities. Minority progress to a higher stage of moral thinking, questioning convention in the first stage, then allowing their own conscience to decide their principles.
Mind and brain
In many cultures around this world, there is the view that humans have a soul that exists independently of the physical body. For Greek philosophers, the soul was also viewed as the seat of our reasoning abilities - what we would call our minds today. While Aristotle...
