moral reasoning

Meaning: Moral reasoning is how people justify judgments about right and wrong. Kohlberg, building on Piaget, gave people dilemmas such as the Heinz dilemma (should a man steal a drug he cannot afford to save his wife?) and classified the reasoning offered. Preconventional: avoiding punishment, then pursuing self-interest or reward. Conventional: winning approval and being a "good" person, then obeying laws and maintaining social order. Postconventional: a social contract in which laws can be changed for the common good, then self-chosen universal principles such as justice. The stages are described as following a fixed order, and many people do not reach the last.

On the MCAT: A passage quotes a justification and you name the stage. "He will go to jail" is preconventional. "A good husband would do it" or "stealing is against the law" is conventional. "Human life outweighs property rights" is postconventional. Questions may also ask about Gilligan's criticism, which says Kohlberg favored justice-based reasoning over care-based reasoning, or about cultural bias in the dilemmas.

Common confusion: The yes or no answer does not set the stage, because the same choice can be justified at different levels. Only the reasoning counts. Also, moral reasoning (thinking) is not moral behavior (acting), and people may reason at a high level yet act otherwise.