What Motivates Us? On Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development

The Torah motivates the people’s adherence to law in numerous ways.^[1] In the book of Deuteronomy, for instance, Moses employs a persuasive tone, urging the Israelites towards a life of abundance:^[2]

^{דברים ו:ג} וְשָׁמַעְתָּ יִשְׂרָאֵל וְשָׁמַרְתָּ לַעֲשׂוֹת אֲשֶׁר יִיטַב לְךָ וַאֲשֶׁר תִּרְבּוּן מְאֹד כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֶיךָ לָךְ אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ.

^{Deut 6:3} Obey, O Israel, willingly and faithfully, that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly [in] a land flowing with milk and honey, as YHWH, the God of your fathers, spoke to you.^[3]

Laws may also include a “motive clause,” a clause or sentence intended to encourage compliance, such as a promise of future blessings from YHWH for the obedient:

^{דברים כד:יט} כִּי תִקְצֹר קְצִירְךָ בְשָׂדֶךָ וְשָׁכַחְתָּ עֹמֶר בַּשָּׂדֶה לֹא תָשׁוּב לְקַחְתּוֹ לַגֵּר לַיָּתוֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָה יִהְיֶה לְמַעַן יְבָרֶכְךָ יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכֹל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֶיךָ.

^{Deut 24:19} When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf in the field, do not turn back to get it; it shall go to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow—in order that YHWH your God may bless you in all your undertakings.

Biblical scholars studying exhortations and motive clauses often focus on their form and function within the law.^[4] In addition, psychology may offer some useful insights into the strategies that biblical authors employ to motivate the Israelites to obey the law.

Lawrence Kohlberg: Cognitive Moral Development

American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg (1927–1987) used the lens of motivation to examine the question: “Why do people do the right thing or avoid doing the wrong thing?” He posited that cognitive moral development begins at birth, and proceeds through adolescence and adulthood through three levels of morality—pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional—each of which has two stages.^[5]

Level 1: Pre-Conventional Morality

At this level, behavior is shaped by the individual’s evaluation of the “me-centered, material consequences” of an action.^[6]

In Stage One, individual behaviors are driven by concerns about obedience and punishment, with a focus on the direct consequences of their actions on themselves. At this stage, individuals perceive an action as morally wrong because they are punished for it. In the Bible, laws that reflect this concept may be marked by the cautionary term פֶּן (pen), “lest”:

‏^{דברים ו:יד} לֹא תֵלְכוּן אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים מֵאֱלֹהֵי הָעַמִּים אֲשֶׁר סְבִיבוֹתֵיכֶם. ^ו:טו כִּי אֵל קַנָּא יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּקִרְבֶּךָ פֶּן יֶחֱרֶה אַף יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בָּךְ וְהִשְׁמִידְךָ מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה.

^{Deut 6:14} Do not follow other gods, any gods of the peoples about you—6:15 for your God YHWH in your midst is an impassioned God—lest the anger of your God YHWH blaze forth against you, wiping you off the face of the earth.

In Stage Two, the individual’s self-interest and desire for rewards are activated: “What’s in it for me?” Even if there is concern for others, it is not based on loyalty or intrinsic respect, but rather a reciprocal mentality: “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.” Biblical laws that engage this type of motivation may employ the characteristic word of purpose, לְמַעַן (limaʿan), “in order that”:

^{דברים טז:כ} צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה וְיָרַשְׁתָּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ.

^{Deut 16:20} Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that your God YHWH is giving you.

^{שׁמות כ:יב} כַּבֵּד אֶת אָבִיךָ וְאֶת אִמֶּךָ לְמַעַן יַאֲרִכוּן יָמֶיךָ עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ.

^{Exod 20:12} Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land that your God YHWH is assigning to you.

Deuteronomy also features directives to the individual and the community that combine these first two stages of motivation:

‏^{דברים יא:כו} רְאֵה אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן לִפְנֵיכֶם הַיּוֹם בְּרָכָה וּקְלָלָה.

^{Deut 11:26} See, this day I set before you blessing and curse….

Obeying YHWH brings blessings, and disobeying curses (vv. 27–29; cf. ch. 28).

Level 2: Conventional Morality

At this level, an individual obeys rules and follows society’s norms even when there are no personal consequences for obedience or disobedience. Adherence to rules and conventions is somewhat rigid at this point, and a rule’s appropriateness or fairness is seldom questioned.

Stage Three is characterized by the “good child” attitude, which values being consonant with social norms (as opposed to maintaining them, which is Stage Four). Individuals at this stage may judge the morality of an action by evaluating its consequences in terms of their relationships with others, and they begin to value virtues like respect and gratitude.

Motivations reflecting this stage of development are more implied than stated in the Bible. In many texts, to be seen as a “good child” is defined less by society’s perspective than by YHWH’s. An exhortation to be faithful to the speaker’s teaching in Proverbs also combines the two:

^{משׁלי ג:ג} חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת אַל יַעַזְבֻךָ קָשְׁרֵם עַל גַּרְגְּרוֹתֶיךָ כָּתְבֵם עַל לוּחַ לִבֶּךָ. ^ג:ד וּמְצָא חֵן וְשֵׂכֶל טוֹב בְּעֵינֵי אֱלֹהִים וְאָדָם.

^{Prov 3:3} Let fidelity and steadfastness not leave you; bind them about your throat, write them on the tablet of your mind, ^3:4 and you will find favor and approbation in the eyes of God and man.

Stage Four is driven by considerations of authority and social order obedience. The individual perceives the value of obedience to laws, dicta, and social conventions because of their importance in maintaining a functioning society. Moral reasoning in Stage Four thus moves beyond the need for individual approval exhibited in stage three.

This orientation underlies many biblical dicta.^[7] Some have to do with stability of family structure, as in the law that preserves the inheritance rights of the first-born son regardless of the father’s preferences among his sons:

^{דברים כא:יז} כִּי אֶת הַבְּכֹר בֶּן הַשְּׂנוּאָה יַכִּיר לָתֶת לוֹ פִּי שְׁנַיִם בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִמָּצֵא לוֹ כִּי הוּא רֵאשִׁית אֹנוֹ לוֹ מִשְׁפַּט הַבְּכֹרָה.

^{Deut 21:17} Instead, he must accept the first-born, the son of the unloved one, and allot to him a double portion of all he possesses; since he is the first fruit of his vigor, the birthright is his due.

Notice the use of the explanatory word, כִּי (ki), which may mean, “because,” “for,” or “since.”^[8]

Level 3: Post-Conventional Morality

Post-conventional moralists live by their own ethical principles—principles that typically include such basic human rights as life, liberty, and justice. People who exhibit post-conventional morality view rules as useful but changeable mechanisms—ideally, rules can maintain the general social order and protect human rights. However, rules are not absolute dictates that must be obeyed without question.

In Stage Five, individuals regard laws as social contracts rather than rigid edicts. Those that do not promote the general welfare should be changed when necessary to meet the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This stage is less evident in the Bible, as biblical law is seen as binding:

^{דברים ד:ב} לֹא תֹסִפוּ עַל הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם וְלֹא תִגְרְעוּ מִמֶּנּוּ לִשְׁמֹר אֶת מִצְוֹת יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם.

^{Deut 4:2} You shall not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, but keep the commandments of YHWH your God that I enjoin upon you (cf. 13:1).

If the laws, per se, represent what is הַיָּשָׁר וְהַטּוֹב בְּעֵינֵי יְ־הוָה “right and good in the eyes of YHWH” (Deut 6:18),^[9] then Kohlberg’s stage five is probably the opposite of the stance of biblical law. In practice, however, the biblical authors do revise earlier law, and thus their work may represent stage five thinking.^[10]

In Stage Six, moral reasoning is based on abstract universal ethical principles. Laws are valid only insofar as they are grounded in justice, and a commitment to justice carries with it an obligation to disobey unjust laws. Outstanding biblical examples of this orientation come less from law than from narrative.

A powerful example is the story of the midwives who disobey Pharaoh’s law to kill all Israelite infant boys, because the midwives answer to a higher authority:

^{שׁמות א:יז} וַתִּירֶאןָ הַמְיַלְּדֹת אֶת הָאֱלֹהִים וְלֹא עָשׂוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֲלֵיהֶן מֶלֶךְ מִצְרָיִם וַתְּחַיֶּיןָ אֶת הַיְלָדִים.

^{Exod 1:17} The midwives, fearing God, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live.

In fact, it is clear that the midwives ignore the motivations that characterize the earlier stages in Kohlberg’s model: They are not motivated by fear of punishment; they do not expect any reward; their work, in secret, cannot be reinforced by social approval; and they are breaking, not upholding societal norms and the law of the land (Exod 1:15–22).^[11]

A second example is Abraham’s famous argument (Gen 18:17–33), in which he takes YHWH to task regarding the decision to wipe out the city of Sodom:

^{בראשׁית יח:כה} חָלִלָה לְּךָ מֵעֲשֹׂת כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה לְהָמִית צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע וְהָיָה כַצַּדִּיק כָּרָשָׁע חָלִלָה לָּךְ הֲשֹׁפֵט כָּל הָאָרֶץ לֹא יַעֲשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט.

^{Gen 18:25} “Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”

Abraham challenges YHWH’s plan with the universal value of not punishing the innocent.

Empathy and Care: Noddings

American philosopher Nel Noddings, who has critiqued Kohlberg, has argued that moral development begins with learning what it means to be cared-for: “Then, gradually, we learn both to care for and, by extension, to care about others.” This caring-about, Noddings argues, is almost certainly the foundation for our sense of justice: caring-about (or, perhaps a sense of justice) must be seen as instrumental in establishing the conditions under which caring-for can flourish.^[12]

Indeed, care for the feelings of another person can be seen in the laws that govern the treatment of a woman who is taken captive in war. If the captor does not wish to marry her, he is to let her go:

^{דברים כא:יד} וְהָיָה אִם לֹא חָפַצְתָּ בָּהּ וְשִׁלַּחְתָּהּ לְנַפְשָׁהּ וּמָכֹר לֹא תִמְכְּרֶנָּה בַּכָּסֶף לֹא תִתְעַמֵּר בָּהּ תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר עִנִּיתָהּ.

^{Deut 21:14} Then, should you no longer want her, you must release her outright. You must not sell her for money: since you had your will of her, you must not enslave her.

Couched within the explanation for her emancipation is an allusion to the woman’s dignity. One can infer a sense of sympathy for the captive woman. It may be that the law is drawing upon the captor’s sense of humanity; or it may be guiding the captor in that direction. In either case, the motivation connects with a concern for the other.

Yet another kind of motivation is based on recognizing types of social disadvantages, such as the landlessness of the Levites in Deuteronomy:

^{דברים יב:יב} וּשְׂמַחְתֶּם לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אַתֶּם וּבְנֵיכֶם וּבְנֹתֵיכֶם וְעַבְדֵיכֶם וְאַמְהֹתֵיכֶם וְהַלֵּוִי אֲשֶׁר בְּשַׁעֲרֵיכֶם כִּי אֵין לוֹ חֵלֶק וְנַחֲלָה אִתְּכֶם.

^{Deut 12:12} And you shall rejoice before your God YHWH with your sons and daughters and with your male and female slaves, along with the [family of the] Levite in your settlements, for he has no territorial allotment among you.^[13]

The word that draws attention to the problem in this case is again ki. No specific motivation for addressing these disadvantages is stated: rather, noticing the reality of the problems seems to be regarded as sufficient to motivate the Israelite to attend to them.

In addition, Noddings makes the case that noticing a problem is a first, but not sufficient, step towards amelioration. Her point of view is implied in a biblical observation of the problem of the persistence of poverty that goes beyond the previous example, stating that it is not sufficient to notice the problem—the Israelite is to take action:

^{דברים טו:יא} כִּי לֹא יֶחְדַּל אֶבְיוֹן מִקֶּרֶב הָאָרֶץ עַל כֵּן אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ לֵאמֹר פָּתֹחַ תִּפְתַּח אֶת יָדְךָ לְאָחִיךָ לַעֲנִיֶּךָ וּלְאֶבְיֹנְךָ בְּאַרְצֶךָ.

^{Deut 15:11} For there will never cease to be needy ones in your land, which is why I command you: open your hand to the poor and needy kin in your land.

There are also places where the positive good of keeping a certain law is not stated, suggesting that its benefits are self-evident:

^{שׁמות כג:יב} שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תַּעֲשֶׂה מַעֲשֶׂיךָ וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי תִּשְׁבֹּת לְמַעַן יָנוּחַ שׁוֹרְךָ וַחֲמֹרֶךָ וְיִנָּפֵשׁ בֶּן אֲמָתְךָ וְהַגֵּר.

^{Exod 23:12} Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor, in order that your ox and your ass may rest, and that your home-born slave and the stranger may be refreshed.

In addition, the Bible employs Israelites’ sense of empathy^[14] as a motivation for social justice. This is a well-known biblical theme, most often drawing upon the experience of slavery to induce sensitive behavior toward the vulnerable in society.

^{שׁמות כב:כ} וְגֵר לֹא תוֹנֶה וְלֹא תִלְחָצֶנּוּ כִּי גֵרִים הֱיִיתֶם בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם.

^{Exod 22:20} You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy expands on this notion in its justification for its regulations regarding the manumission of slaves:

^{דברים טו:טו} וְזָכַרְתָּ כִּי עֶבֶד הָיִיתָ בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם וַיִּפְדְּךָ יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ עַל כֵּן אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ אֶת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה הַיּוֹם.

^{Deut 15:15} Bear in mind that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and your God YHWH redeemed you; therefore I enjoin this commandment upon you today.

Deuteronomy goes even further, requiring love of the sojourner because of the Israelites’ own experience in Egypt:

^{דברים י:יט} וַאֲהַבְתֶּם אֶת הַגֵּר כִּי גֵרִים הֱיִיתֶם בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם.

^{Deut 10:19} You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

These examples point to an emotional/relational mindset. Either this is evidence of the Israelites’ already having that mindset, and the justification is that Israelites could build on it to keep certain laws; or the law can begin to develop that mindset, linking the two together.

Additional Motivations: Memory & Identity

Yet another motivation employed by the biblical authors is the creation of a national identity, based on an experienced relationship with YHWH. This, too, draws on the Exodus traditions, although it does not have a social justice orientation. In this case, the Israelites are to keep a ritual in order to keep alive a basic memory-based national identity:

^{דברים טז:ג} לֹא תֹאכַל עָלָיו חָמֵץ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים תֹּאכַל עָלָיו מַצּוֹת לֶחֶם עֹנִי כִּי בְחִפָּזוֹן יָצָאתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לְמַעַן תִּזְכֹּר אֶת יוֹם צֵאתְךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ.

^{Deut 16:3} You shall not eat anything leavened with it; for seven days thereafter you shall eat unleavened bread, bread of distress—for you departed from the land of Egypt hurriedly—so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live.

A signature motivation for keeping certain laws has to do with identity and the kinship relationship, present or potential, between YHWH and the Israelites:

‏^{דברים יד:א} בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַי־הוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם לֹא תִתְגֹּדְדוּ וְלֹא תָשִׂימוּ קָרְחָה בֵּין עֵינֵיכֶם לָמֵת. ^יד:ב כִּי עַם קָדוֹשׁ אַתָּה לַי־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וּבְךָ בָּחַר יְ־הוָה לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לְעַם סְגֻלָּה מִכֹּל הָעַמִּים אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה.

^{Deut 14:1} You are children of your God YHWH. You shall not gash yourselves or shave the front of your heads because of the dead. ^14:2 For you are a people consecrated to your God YHWH: your God YHWH chose you from among all other peoples on earth to be a treasured people.

The Bible beyond Kohlberg’s Model

The Bible makes room for a greater variety social and emotional dimensions of motivation than Kohlberg’s typology.^[15] In this way, it seems to attend to concerns voiced by some of Kohlberg’s early critics,^[16] who noted that considerations of relationships and emotions were absent in the motivations inherent in his stages of moral development. By contrast the Torah presents considerations of sympathy, empathy, and other aspects of care, as well as a multi-valanced relationship with YHWH and the desirability to develop a memory-based national identity, as human motivations.

Finally, while Kohlberg’s scheme is hierarchical, privileging “justice” as the most desirable of motivations, the Torah sees value in drawing on the full range of human motivations to support its vision of a life of unprecedented possibility.