Family, Life Course, and Society Commons^™

Moral Versus Social-Conventional Reasoning: A Narrative And Cultural Critique, Carol S. Witherell, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Abstract: We suggest in this paper that attempts to segregate social-conventional reasoning from the moral domain may represent an artifactual division, one that ignores major philosophic and psychological traditions and cultural constructs regarding the moral self. We address such issues as the individual, social, and relational dimensions of morality; the cultural context of moral development and behavior; and whether morality is solely a matter of justice, harm and welfare considerations, or concerned as well with culturally variable definitions of the good and the good society, with role obligations, and with caring and affective aspects of human experience. We conclude with …