premoral

adjective

pre·​mor·​al ˌprē-ˈmȯr-əl 

-ˈmär-

variants or pre-moral

: of, relating to, or suggestive of a time before the development of a personal or social moral code : not having, showing, or involving an understanding of right and wrong

premoral instincts/behaviors

a pre-moral society

For what is Archie but a premoral child, almost entirely self-serving, quite unaware of anyone else's needs …

—Richard Schickel

… presents characters stunted at a sort of pre-moral stage of life …

—Mick LaSalle

It is pre-moral, invoking not the concepts of right and wrong, but the psychological mechanism of empathy.

—Daniel Maidman

Word History

First Known Use

1858, in the meaning defined above