Check whether your moral conclusion reaches your action
After you decide what is right, name the specific action it requires this week, and check on it, because knowing and doing are separate steps.
Por que funciona
Blasi (1980) reviews the conceptual and empirical issues about how moral reasoning relates to moral action, and describes two opposing views of that relation, one of which is essentially irrational and emphasizes need and action tendencies. This page’s own reading, which the Blasi abstract does not state, is that Kohlberg’s stage scores measure reasoning, so a person can score high on what they judge right and still not act on it. Writing the next action down makes that gap visible.
Como fazer
- Write the moral conclusion you have reached about a specific situation in one sentence.
- Write the single action that conclusion requires, with a person and a day attached.
- Note what would make it harder to do that action, in one line.
- Check the next day whether it happened, and if not, write what you did do in its place.
Evidência
Blasi (1980) is a critical review of the literature on how moral cognition relates to moral action. The abstract describes the question and two opposing views; this page does not rely on his conclusions beyond that description. The action-check is a self-reflective exercise and has not been tested. (mechanistic)
Blasi’s review is about how moral reasoning relates to action in general. Whether any given conclusion becomes action depends on context, pressure and need, and this exercise does not measure those.
Fontes
Erro comum
Writing an action that is so vague it cannot fail ("be more fair"). A useful action names a person, a moment and a thing you will say or do.
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Mais práticas para Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development, Made Practical
- Talk through a moral dilemma with someone who reasons differently
Take a real moral question to someone whose reasons you do not share, and listen until you can state their reasons back.
- 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.
- Write the reasons behind a moral verdict, not just the verdict
When you reach a moral conclusion, write down the reasons you gave yourself and check what norm and what problem those reasons rest on.
- Name your gut reaction before you reach for reasons
Notice the first moral reaction you have, label it, and only then start building the case for or against it.
- Test a rule against the principle it is meant to serve
When a rule and a person’s welfare seem to conflict, name the principle the rule protects and ask whether following the rule still serves it.
- Name which kind of reason is doing the work in your moral choice
Sort the reasons behind a choice into punishment, self-interest, approval, social order, or principle, and notice which one is carrying the decision.
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