Moral Reasoning Theory: Between Kohlberg’s and al-Ghazali’s Perspective

The purpose of this study was to examine the moral theory in al-Ghazali s classic Islamic compared Kohlberg s theory of moral level. The method used is the document analysis method with references to al-Ghazali works Ihya Ulum al-Din s and articles related to Kohlberg s theory. The results show that there are similarities in the theory of moral level developed by al-Ghazali with Kohlberg, although there are also have differences. The level of moral reasoning classified by Kohlberg are divided into three which are preconventional, conventional and post-conventional which have similarities to al- Ghazali s moral classifications of the `awam, the khawas, and the khawas al-khawas. The difference is that Kohlberg s moral level is purely cognitive in its focus on moral reasoning, whereas al-Ghazali s moral level is on moral reasoning as well as behaviour.