Argue the other side in its own terms before you judge it

Restate the position you disagree with well enough that the person holding it would say, yes, that is what I think.

Por qué funciona

Walker (1980) tested Kohlberg’s proposition that cognitive and perspective-taking development are necessary but not sufficient for moral development. Children moved to stage 3 moral reasoning after a brief role-play in which they were exposed to it, but only the children who had reached the matching perspective-taking level advanced. Being able to take another person’s point of view is one condition, in Walker’s children, for advancing to stage 3 after exposure to it. This page’s reading, which the study does not test, is that the same point applies to seeing another person’s reasoning at all, which is why it starts with restating the other position.

Cómo hacerlo

1. Choose a disagreement where you already have a clear view of what is right.
2. Write the other person’s position in one paragraph, starting with what they are trying to protect.
3. Show the paragraph to someone who holds that position and ask them to correct anything they would not say.
4. Only then write one sentence on what your own judgment protects that theirs does not.

Evidencia

Walker (1980) assessed fourth- to seventh-grade children on cognitive development and on perspective-taking, then exposed them to stage 3 moral reasoning in a brief role-play. Transitions to stage 3 were found only among children who had reached the hypothesized prerequisites: formal operations (the Piagetian stage of abstract, hypothetical reasoning) and perspective-taking stage 3 (the level Walker assessed separately, as the ability to see a situation from another person’s point of view). The abstract reports this as confirming Kohlberg’s proposition. Walker (1984), a later review of sex differences in moral reasoning, is cited in this page’s honest limits. (observational)

The study was of children in a brief role-play, measuring reasoning rather than behavior. It does not show that restating another view in adulthood produces a stage change.

Fuentes

• Walker, L. J. (1980). Cognitive and Perspective-Taking Prerequisites for Moral Development. Child Development, 51(1), 131–139.
• Walker, L. J. (1984). Sex Differences in the Development of Moral Reasoning: A Critical Review. Child Development, 55(3), 677–691.

Error común

Restating the other view in a form you can easily dismiss, such as "they just don’t want to lose". A restatement the other person would not recognize shows you have not yet taken their perspective.