Moral hierarchy

Kohlberg's stages of moral development have been read as creating a hierarchy of increasing moral complexity,^[3] ranging from the premoral at the bottom, through the midrange of conventionalism, up to the apex of self-selected morality.^[4]

In similar fashion, Robin Skynner viewed moral ideas (such as the 'myths' of Charis Katakis) as being interpretable at different levels, depending on the degree of mental health attained;^[5] while Eric Berne saw the three ego states of Parent/Adult/Child as falling naturally into a moral hierarchy universally respected in both time and place.^[6]

Dante's universe was structured in a hierarchy of moral sins and moral virtues,^[7] the stratified circles of Hell reaching down for example from the self-indulgent sins at the higher levels, to those of violence below, and the fraudulent at the bottom.^[8]

The Confucian concept of a moral hierarchy traditionally served as a check on arbitrary power in China.^[9]

Arguably at least, the concept of a moral hierarchy still influences China's view of its place in the world today.^[10]