Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
3/10/04
4:53 PM
Page 66
Yes
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
No
______ 1. Would it be wrong for Heinz
to break into the store?
______ 2. Did the druggist have the
right to charge that much for
the product?
______ 3. Did Heinz have an obligation
to steal the drug for his wife?
______ 4. What if Heinz and his wife
did not get along? Should
Heinz steal the drug for her?
______ 5. Suppose Heinzs best friend
were dying of cancer, rather
than Heinzs wife. Should
Heinz steal the drug for his
friend?
______ 6. Suppose the person dying
was not personally close to
Heinz. Should Heinz steal the
drug?
______ 7. Suppose Heinz read in the
paper about a woman dying
of cancer. Should he steal the
drug for her?
______ 8. Would you steal the drug to
save your own life?
______ 9. Suppose Heinz was caught
breaking in and brought
before a judge. Should he be
sentenced to jail?
For individuals in the self-centered level of maturity, stealing the drug might be justified because
Heinzs wife had instrumental value: She could provide companionship, help rear the children, and so on.
A stranger, however, would not have the same instrumental value for Heinz, so it would be wrong to steal
the drug for a stranger. Individuals in the conformity
level would base their judgments on the closeness of
the relationship and on law and authority. Heinz has
an obligation to steal for family members, according to
this reasoning, but not for nonfamily members. A governing principle is whether or not an action is against
the law (or societys expectations). Principled individuals base their judgments on a set of universal, comprehensive, and consistent principles. Regardless of how
they answer the questions, their reasoning will be
based on their internal principles, not on externally
66
..
..