[syndicate] _cross.ova.ing ][4rm.blog.2.log][ 23/06/2003-08/07/2003_

[human being]

> [just had a thought, in terms of historical baggage do u think this is 
> in part b.cause the US x.ists in a fundamental adolescent-ethos? ie 
> removal from the established lines of the historic via the civil war [ 
> = rebellion + concretization of|thru hierarchical _old power_ 
> stratifications =] ][so][c][ial][limatising of overblown, inflated 
> ][body politic][ worth = shiny capitalism (post WW2) as the new 
> religious order & blind negation/military (bully)mindsetting of 
> anything that offers alternatives 2 this [cf mcarthyism + bushism(s)] 
> = n.herent institutionalised belief structures [cf covert facism] that 
> reflect this = future a][rrogant][ggrandizement of projected realities 
> [in terms of economy, business function, etc].........?]


  yes. especially with regard to various models for the
  stages of human development (1), and in particular for
  G.W. Bush, stages of moral development (2). links follow....


1--- stages of human development

Erikson's Eight Stages of Human Development
<http://psychology.about.com/library/weekly/aa091500a.htm>

Stage 1: Infancy -- Age 0 to 1

Crisis: Trust vs. Mistrust

	Description: In the first year of life, infants depend on others for
food, warmth, and affection, and therefore must be able to blindly
trust the parents (or caregivers) for providing those.

      Positive outcome: If their needs are met consistently and
responsively by the parents, infants not only will develop a
secure attachment with the parents, but will learn to trust
their environment in general as well.

      Negative outcome: If not, infant will develop mistrust towards
people and things in their environment, even towards themselves.

vs.

Stage 8: Late Adulthood -- Age 65 to death

Crisis: Integrity vs. Despair Important

      Description: Old age is a time for reflecting upon one's
  own life and its role in the big scheme of things, and seeing
it filled with pleasure and satisfaction or disappointments
and failures.

      Positive outcome:If the adult has achieved a sense of
fulfillment about life and a sense of unity within himself
and with others, he will accept death with a sense of integrity.
Just as the healthy child will not fear life, said Erikson,
the healthy adult will not fear death.

      Negative outcome: If not, the individual will despair and fear 
death.

(mid-life fundamentalism may bridge this paradox for true believers...)



2-- human stages of moral development  (Kohlberg model)


     	LEVEL           	STAGE             	SOCIAL ORIENTATION

Pre-conventional     	1           		 Obedience and Punishment

                       		2        		 Individualism, Instrumentalism,
                                         			and Exchange

   Conventional       	 3               		 "Good boy/girl"

                       		4                		 Law and Order

Post-conventional     5            		  Social Contract

                       		6             		 Principled Conscience


	
The Six Stages of Moral Judgment: (from Lawrence Kohlberg, Essays on
Moral Development Volume 1: The Philosophy of Moral Development, 1981)
<http://www.ccp.uchicago.edu/grad/Joseph_Craig/kohlberg.htm>

// start quote:

Level A. Preconventional Level ((war?))
Stage 1. The Stage of Punishment and Obedience

Content
  Right is literal obedience to rules and authority, avoiding 
punishment, and not doing physical harm.

What is right is to avoid breaking rules, to obey for
obedience’s sake, and to avoid doing physical
damage to people and property.

The  reasons for doing right are avoidance of punishment
and the superior power of authorities.

Social Perspective
  This stage takes an egocentric point of view. A person at this stage 
doesn’t consider the interests of others or recognize they differ from 
actor’s, and doesn’t relate two points of view. Actions are judged in 
terms of physical consequences rather than in terms of psychological 
interests of others. Authority’s perspective is confused with one’s own.


((...in comparison with...))


Level C. Postconventional and Principled Level

Moral decisions are generated from rights, values, or principles that 
are (or could be) agreeable to all individuals composing or creating a 
society designed to have fair and beneficial practices.

Stage 6. The Stage of Universal Ethical Principles ((peace?))

Content
  This stage assumes guidance by universal ethical principles that all 
humanity should follow.

	[Regarding what is right, Stage 6 is guided by universal ethical 
principles. Particular laws or social agreements are usually valid 
because they rest on such principles. When laws violate these 
principles, one acts in accordance with the principle. Principles are 
universal principles of justice: the equality of human rights and 
respect for the dignity of human beings as individuals. These are not 
merely values that are recognized, but are also principles used to 
generate particular decisions.]

The reason for doing right is that, as a rational person,
one has seen the validity of principles and
has become committed to them.

Social Perspective
  This stage takes the perspective of a moral point of view from which 
social arrangements derive or on which they are grounded. The 
perspective is that of any rational individual recognizing the nature 
of morality or the basic moral premise of respect for other persons as 
ends, not means."

// end quote.