Heinz’s wife was dying because of a special kind of cancer. There was only one medicine that the doctors thought might cure her, but it was an advanced formula that a pharmaceutical company had recently discovered. This drug was extremely costly to produce due to high-cost equipment and singular production techniques. On top of that, the company was selling the drug at a price tenfold the production costs. Heinz went to everyone he knew to borrow money but he could only collect half of what the drug costs. He sought an audience with the CEO of the pharmaceutical company, told him that his wife was dying, and begged him to sell the drug cheaper or allow him to defer the payment. But the CEO refused. He couldn’t make any exception as they had spent massive funds on research and equipment, and turning in a profit was the top priority for the company. Heinz was devastated and at wit’s end about what he should do next. In the end, he broke into the company and stole the drug for his wife.
Think about this.
What would you do if you were Heinz and WHY?
The second part of this assignment requires evaluating where your decision would place you in Kohlberg’s Theory. Do you agree or disagree with this placement?
Levels
Pre-conceptual morality
Stage 1: Right and wrong determined by prohibition and punishment
Individual view: Can I avoid punishment?
Collective view: Will we have to pay a ticket?
Stage 2: Self-interest orientation
Individual view: What’s in it for me?
Collective view: Does it pay for the benefit?
Conventional morality
Stage 3: Following social norms: Interpersonal agreement and conformity
Individual view: I’m a good citizen
Collective view: We are following the rules, as much as the others
Stage 4: Law and order: Authority and social-order maintaining orientation
Individual view: I collaborate to maintain law and order
Collective view: We follow right and law to guarantee order, profit and growing spaces
Post-conceptual morality
Stage 5: Social contract orientation and consciousness building
Individual view: I disobey wrong rules and act consistently with my own principles
Collective view: We should eliminate obsolete situations and wake up to promote general welfare.
Stage 6: Universal ethical principles for mutual respect
Individual view: I have an obligation to disobey unjust laws and commit myself to follow the ones that are grounded in justice and wellbeing.
Collective view: Committed to overpass social conventions, to create a new common ground for justice and sustainability for next generations.
