Moral Reasoning

Abstract

Moral reasoning entails thinking about moral and ethical issues, and is characterized by judgments of ought . Initial work on children's moral reasoning was conducted within global stage theories such as those of Piaget and Kohlberg, in which young children's moral reasoning was characterized as egocentric and dominated by concerns with authority, obedience, and punishment. Recent perspectives on moral development have shown that even young children distinguish morality from authority or simple obedience to social norms. Children develop nuanced understandings of justice and concern for others that they apply to situations of cooperation and distributive and retributive justice, and in more complex situations entailing issues such as prejudice, discrimination, civil liberties, and democracy.