This is one of the "Kohlberg Dilemmas," a group of moral quandaries
that are often used in discussions of morality and ethics. The
Kohlberg Dilemmas originated with Harvard Professor Lawrence Kohlberg.
Here you'll find the text of the "parable":
"ALLIGATOR RIVER
Once upon a time there was a woman named Abigail who was in love with
a man named Gregory. Gregory lived on the shore of a river. Abigail
lived on the opposite shore of the river. The river that separated the
two lovers was teeming with alligators. Abigail wanted to cross the
river to be with Gregory. Unfortunately, the bridge had been washed
out in a flood. So she went to Sinbad, who had a boat, and asked him
to take her across. He said he would be glad to if she would sleep
with him. She promptly refused and went to a friend named Ivan to
explain her plight. Ivan didn't want to get involved at all in the
situation. Abigail felt her only alternative was to accept Sinbad's
terms. Sinbad fulfilled his promise to Abigail and delivered her into
the arms of Gregory.
When Abigail told Gregory about her bargain with Sinbad, Gregory, who
told her he always thought she was a nice girl, cast her aside with
disdain. Heartsick and dejected, Abigail turned to Jonah with her tale
of woe. Jonah, feeling sorry for Abigail, found Gregory and beat him
up.
Please rank the characters from best (1) to worst (5).
Gregory ______ Abigail ______ Sinbad _____ Ivan _____ Jonah _____"
HTML version of document from Nassau Community College
http://216.239.33.104/search?q=cache:6ul5xF3DeM8J:www.sunynassau.edu/users/cooneye/kohlberg.dilemmas.doc
Here is a slightly different version:
ALLIGATOR RIVER...
Abigail and Michael are two young lovers engaged to be married.
Michael lives on an island in the middle of a river infested with
alligators. There is a bridge to the shore that he and Abigail use to
get together. One night, a terrible storm blows a tree over on to
Michael, breaking his leg. It also washes out the bridge. Michael,
screaming in pain, asks Abigail to help him. She goes to Abner, who
has the only boat around, and asks to be ferried across the river. He
says, "Only if you have sex with me." Abigail turns him down, and asks
another friend of hers, Glen, if he can try to talk to Abner, but Glen
says he doesn't want to get involved. With no other way to help
Michael, Abigail has sex with Abner. They then go to the island, get
the tree off of him and get him to a hospital. When he finds out what
she has done, Michael breaks off their engagement. Abigail is sobbing
and Sluggo comes and asks her what is the matter. She tells him the
whole story and he goes and beats up Michael. As the story ends,
Michael is once more in pain and Abigail walks off into the sunset
laughing at him.
The exercise is:
List the participants in the story, Abigail, Abner, Glen, Michael and
Sluggo in order from the least moral to the most moral person, and
give your reasons for doing so."
Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "kohlberg" + "abigail" + "boat"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=kohlberg+abigail+boat
I hope this is helpful. If anything is unclear, or if a link does not
function, please request clarification; I'll gladly offer further
assistance before you rate my answer.
Best wishes,
pinkfreud |
