Damian is a new driver and likes to speed, but he usually abides by the posted speed limit because he doesn't want to get a ticket or lose his driving privileges. What level of moral reasoning is Damian working from?

He's in the pre conventional level (in the 1st stage: Avoids punishment)

Explanation:

Kohlberg did some studies on morality and proposed a theory on moral development.

Kohlberg defined three different levels of morality (and each level consists in 2 stages). These levels are:

pre conventional, conventional postconventional

In the preconventional level, the person's morality is externally controlled and therefore acts based on what the punishment will be (1st stage) or based on how good will it be for him/her to act in some way (2nd stage)

The conventional level stages also have to to with external controls but now the person thinks in function of ensure positive relationships and societal order. The third stage here depends on the approval of others. The fourth stage has to do with accepting rules because they preserve the society order and functioning.

The postconventional level stages are defined in more abstract principles or values. The 5th stage sees the world as a place with different values that must be respected. Finally the 6th stage is based in universal ethical abstract principles.

In this example, although Damian likes to speed, he doesn't do it because he doesn't want to get a speed ticket or lose his driving privileges, he's acting based on external controls so he must be in the pre conventional or conventional level.

He specifically acts based on avoiding punishments (tickets or losing privileges), therefore he's in the first level (pre conventional) and specifically in the first stage of moral reasoning.