Document Type : Research paper

Author

عضو هیئت علمی گروه زبان و ادبیات عربی دانشگاه خلیج فارس

Abstract

Lawrence Kohlberg is a theorist and pioneer of developmental psychology. he continued Piaget's theory in the field of moral development and he could add some new stages to Piaget's stages. He categorized people’s evolution of moral development in to three stages which include: pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional then he grouped every levels into two levels. To achieve this classification, he proposed some puzzles then on the bases of the reasoning, he determined responder’s level of moral development. Kohlberg’s suggested levels showed a kind of vast worldview which begin from the focuses on the material result of the action then according to people and group’s behavior, detects the existence of social relations and legality one and finally, the principles of global values.The purpose of the present study is to investigate the stages of moral development in “Sorakh-o-Al-Qhobur” (The scream of sepulcher), the Kahlil Gibran’s story, based on Lawrence Kohlberg's theory. The most important question of this study is that according to Kohlberg’s theory, how can calcified and categorized the reasons of people in this story? And based on this analyses, at what stage is Gibran’s perspective? The most result of this study show that all six Kohlberg’s levels of moral development in this story are adaptable according to People's arguments. Gibran based on his post-conventional perspective believes in principles and universal of humanistic literature. Accordingly, He is in the sixth stage or at the height of moral growth. The author will study this issue using the theories of developmental psychology.

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