Moral Development and Reality, continued

Continuing this post, also of interest in the referenced pages is that formal operations are a necessary prerequisite for the meta-cognitive, meta-ethical investigation of such spiritual concerns via the likes of meditation. And while this existential domain does not follow an invariant stage sequence, it is also nonetheless developmental. These existential developments are indeed Kohlberg's 'state-stages' 5, 6 and 7. Again akin to the WC lattice in that the 'state-stages' can also be 'above' the other stages when one achieves a certain stage development. But they can also still be interpreted using lower moral stages.
 
This lends further credence to my long-held argument that the rational ego is necessary for both meditative state training and the door to postmetaphysical stage development. It is also the fulcrum around which both pre- and post-formal rational states and stages 'fold', overcoming the invariant sequencing of ever-increasing complexity in the standard stages. The latter might be very useful but are not necessary for this process, and in fact could very well inhibit it when they are not interpreted postmetaphysicially.

Instead of calling it 2nd-tier, a sequential metaphor, a more apt metaphor would be the twisted or twining tier.