Georg Lind (1947–2021) and Moral Competence: An Alternative for Contemplation of Complexity in Moral Development

The moral theories of Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, of a cognitive-evolutionary approach, are accused of exhaustion. This exhaustion is mainly due to their limitations in contemplating the complexity involved in moral development, such as the role of affectivity in this process. From the pioneering work of Carol Gilligan, who focused on this relationship between cognition and affectivity, several theories, based on the cognitive-evolutive approach, have emerged with their own propositions aiming to remedy the limitations of their predecessors and therefore could be called post-Kohlbergian. Among them, the theory of the double aspect of moral competence of Georg Lind stands out. Therefore, this chapter aims to discuss the issue of complexity in moral development, especially regarding the influence of affectivity in this process, and present Georg Lind’s theory as a theoretical alternative for the contemplation of this complexity in the study of morality. We conclude, therefore, that if the Psychology of Moral Development is exhausted in its classical references, the post-Kohlbergian theories, such as Lind’s theory presented here, are alternatives available today to remedy this lack of perspective and innovation in current investigations. They are also theories that seem to have renewed, or are renewing, this field for another cycle of decades of study on moral development.