Lawrence Kohlberg's Six Stages of Moral Reasoning

Abstract:: There are many aspects to the understanding of human behavior. The study of psychology would be incomplete without a detailed analysis of Lawrence Kohlberg's Six Stages of Moral Reasoning. It is a vital part of the different stages in the life cycle. This lesson plan will help students understand and become more aware of their own human behavior as it relates to the concept of moral reasoning.

Marathon Moral Reasoning Laboratory, January (IAP) 2007

Abstract:: This seminar focuses on the cognitive science of moral reasoning. Philosophers debate how we decide which moral actions are permissible. Is it permissible to take one human life in order to save others? We have powerful and surprisingly rich and subtle intuitions to such questions. In this class, you will learn how intuitions can be studied using formal analytical paradigms and behavioral experiments. Thursday evening, meet to learn about recent advances in theories of moral reasoning. Overnight, formulate a hypothesis about the structure of moral reasoning and design a questionnaire-based experiment to test this. Friday, present and select 1-2 proposals and collect data; we will then reconvene to analyze and discuss results and implications for the structure of the moral mind.

Abstract:: This course explores the social relevance of neuroscience, considering how emerging areas of brain research at once reflect and reshape social attitudes and agendas. Topics include brain imaging and popular media; neuroscience of empathy, trust, and moral reasoning; new fields of neuroeconomics and neuromarketing; ethical implications of neurotechnologies such as cognitive enhancement pharmaceuticals; neuroscience in the courtroom; and neuroscientific recasting of social problems such as addiction and violence. Guest lectures by neuroscientists, class discussion, and weekly readings in neuroscience, popular media, and science studies.

Abstract:: Examines a number of famous trials in European and American history. Considers the salient issues (political, social, cultural) of several trials, the ways in which each trial was constructed and covered in public discussion at the time, the ways in which legal reasoning and storytelling interacted in each trial and in later retellings of the trial, and the ways in which trials serve as both spectacle and a forum for moral and political reasoning. Students have an opportunity to study one trial in depth and present their findings to the class.