Forman Christian College University
Course Code: EDU 120
Course Title: Educational Psychology
A woman is near death and is suffering from a special kind of cancer. There is only one
drug that doctors think might save her. It was recently discovered by a druggist living
in the same town as the woman. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist is
charging 10 times what the drug cost him to make. The sick woman’s husband, Heinz
tries to borrow the money to buy the drug from every place he can think of but he
can’t raise enough money. He tells the druggist that his wife is dying and asks him to
sell it to him cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist says, “No, I discovered it and
I deserve to make money from it”. Later, Heinze get desperate, breaks in to the druggist
store, and steals the drug for his wife.
1- you are required to analyse the case and express your opinion about the act of the
Heinze? Was he right or wrong in his action, discuss? 4 marks
Ans- Heinze did the right thing by stealing the drug. This is because the only result of
stealing was going to be the saving of a life and nobody was harmed during the stealing or
after it. The druggist was asking for a price that was way higher than its value which was
completely unjust especially for someone in dire need of it. Desperate times result in
desperate behaviours of people and in such times it is difficult to blindly conform to rules,
same was the case for Heinze. It is also very likely that after using the drug Heinze had
planned on paying for it later whether or not he would be able to give all of the amount or
only some. However if the druggist reports the case to the police, they will definitely
categorize it as wrong because their classification will be restricted to 'stealing'. The reasons
or the situation will not matter to them.
2- Also mention that which moral stage of kohlberg's theory discusses the above
mentioned case? 1 mark
Ans- Post-conventional morality, the social construct stage because he did not conform to the
law and he did what was right in that particular situation.
Course Code: EDU 120
Course Title: Educational Psychology
A woman is near death and is suffering from a special kind of cancer. There is only one
drug that doctors think might save her. It was recently discovered by a druggist living
in the same town as the woman. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist is
charging 10 times what the drug cost him to make. The sick woman’s husband, Heinz
tries to borrow the money to buy the drug from every place he can think of but he
can’t raise enough money. He tells the druggist that his wife is dying and asks him to
sell it to him cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist says, “No, I discovered it and
I deserve to make money from it”. Later, Heinze get desperate, breaks in to the druggist
store, and steals the drug for his wife.
1- you are required to analyse the case and express your opinion about the act of the
Heinze? Was he right or wrong in his action, discuss? 4 marks
Ans- Heinze did the right thing by stealing the drug. This is because the only result of
stealing was going to be the saving of a life and nobody was harmed during the stealing or
after it. The druggist was asking for a price that was way higher than its value which was
completely unjust especially for someone in dire need of it. Desperate times result in
desperate behaviours of people and in such times it is difficult to blindly conform to rules,
same was the case for Heinze. It is also very likely that after using the drug Heinze had
planned on paying for it later whether or not he would be able to give all of the amount or
only some. However if the druggist reports the case to the police, they will definitely
categorize it as wrong because their classification will be restricted to 'stealing'. The reasons
or the situation will not matter to them.
2- Also mention that which moral stage of kohlberg's theory discusses the above
mentioned case? 1 mark
Ans- Post-conventional morality, the social construct stage because he did not conform to the
law and he did what was right in that particular situation.
