Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development

Abstract

How children come to construct and respect moral norms was the central problem Piaget addressed in his major work on moral development, The Moral Judgment of the Child (1932/1965), with additional essays published in the Sociological Studies (1977/1995). One formulation of this is the problem of “understanding how human societies have come to constitute and recognize law, that is, to construct rules that the social group considers valid and obligatory” (Piaget, 1977/1995, p. 159; see Chapter 3, this volume). The fact that this problem still tends to be neglected gives Piaget's work continuing relevance. Piaget dealt with issues in 1932 that are present in current debates, and he offers an approach that is still missing in psychology. Although it is assumed that Kohlberg built on and extended Piaget's initial work, in fact Kohlberg rejected critical aspects of Piaget's approach, which resulted in problems not present in Piaget's own approach. I introduce Piaget's approach to moral development in the context of his general epistemological approach and discuss the development of children's understanding and use of rules in the context of different social relationships and other aspects of children's practical moral activity such as their understanding of lying and justice. Finally, I consider the implications of Piaget's views for current approaches to moral development.