Simpletons – a tool for teaching ethical thinking
This activity is designed to be used in conjunction with upd8s about ethical issues. Before
students can make sense of topical ethical dilemmas, they need to be explicitly taught how
to think from different ethical perspectives.
This tool makes your job a lot easier and more fun, by reframing ethical thinking in terms of
characters from the Simpletons (a family sufficiently unlike their TV cousins to avoid legal
action).
So instead of students having to think about the terms ‘utilitarianism’, ‘rights-based’ and
‘care-based’ they can model an ethical approach by taking on the role of a Simpletons
character, and imagining what arguments that character would give. Three simple
dilemmas are presented to prepare students for upd8s on topical ethics – these will give
practice in the same ethical styles, in different contexts.
Curriculum link
KS4 How Science Works
4b) how and why decisions about science and technology are made, including those that
raise ethical issues
Learning objectives
Students will:
 Become confident in thinking from three different ethical perspectives: utilitarianism (costs
vs. benefits), rights-based (‘the golden rule’) and care-based (people and relationships).
Running the activity
Slides 1-4 set the first dilemma: should you register as an organ donor? Students will
practise thinking in different ethical styles by discussing the dilemma in the role of one of
the Simpletons characters. Slides 5-8 are role cards, summarising the approaches of the
four characters. Slides 9-12 are graphic organisers to help students work out the ethical
position of each character. Slides 13-16 are speech bubble cards for students to write the
response of their character, to help them contribute to the discussion.
Getting into role Before discussing the dilemma, it is a good idea to spend a short time
getting students ‘into role’, so that they understand the character’s thinking style. You could
split the class into 4 groups Each group takes a graphic organiser card. Students work
together to answer the questions on the graphic organiser card. Students are now ready to
discuss the dilemma
Small group discussion. You now re-organise small groups of 4 so that they contain one
of each character. Students take it in turn to present their response. They can also ask
each other questions so they can justify their points of view
The speech bubble cards can be completed to summarise the discussion. Alternatively,
students could each create a whole conversation storyboard.
Slides 17- 20 introduce two further dilemmas: should you avoid aeroplane flights so as to
reduce your impact on global warming? And should you buy Fairly Traded food, even if it
is more expensive? You can use these dilemmas instead of – or as well as – the organ
donor dilemma.
The 4 ethical approaches
1) Utilitarian approach This is summarised in the phrase ‘the greatest good for the
greatest number.’ It is a pragmatic, rational approach, looking at who is affected by the
decision, and weighing up the benefits and costs. There are no moral absolutes here.
2) Rights-based approach This approach focuses on individuals’ rights to choose for
themselves, and respects others’ rights: right to choice, truth, privacy, not to be injured and
so on. Decisions are wrong if they violate individuals rights – the more they violate, the
worse they are. The golden rule is a good example: do unto others as you would have
them do unto you.
3) Care-based approach. This is similar to Christian/good Samaritan teaching. It is an
orientation that emphasises the importance of compassion, maintaining relationships, and
tending to the needs of others. Ethical questions are approached in terms of ‘what would a
virtuous person do?’
4) Self-centred approach This of course is the unethical approach. All that matters is what
is best for me. Teachers have pointed out that many students will naturally take this stance,
and need to be encouraged to move beyond it.