title: [The development of the ethical thinking in children and the teaching of ethics in pediatrics].
abstract: The child's ethical thinking is not installed in his mind as a single act, but as a consequence of an evolving process. Kohlberg, based on Piaget's studies, described three main developmental stages: preconventional, conventional and post conventional. However, Vigostky and others emphasized the importance of the environment for the moral sculpture of children. Three models can be recognised for teaching ethics in children: the deontological way, the descriptive way, and the only one morally acceptable: the one used by Socrates, by which ethics becomes not merely an adjective, but an institutionalised social practice built on axiological basis.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Crecimiento y Desarrollo, Hospital Nacional de Pediatría Prof. Dr. Juan P. Garrahan. hlejarraga@garrahan.gov.ar
authors.forename: Horacio
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lejarraga
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D004493:Education; D004989:Ethics; D006801:Humans