Hey, What’s up guys? Are you ready to get more equipped to handle appeals to emotion? We’re talking about another one today.
But first, let’s do a quick review of a fallacy we covered a few weeks ago. Let’s review Equivocation. It’s pretty simple. Equivocation happens when someone changes the definition of a word in the middle of a conversation or an argument. One minute you think you’re having a conversation about an engagement ring, but come to find out they’re talking about the ring doorbell on their front porch. (ok, that may be a lame example, but you get the point!).
Here's a question to ask yourself if you think you may be facing equivocation: “Is that really what that word means or are we using different definitions?”
If you want to hear more about this fallacy, check out Episode 14.
Ok, let’s dive into another emotional appeal, the Appeal to Pity. An appeal to pity is when someone says or does things to evoke the emotion of pity in order to get you to do, believe or think something.
A very common example of this is the commercials for helping abandoned dogs at dog shelters. Think about those commercials. What music do they play? What pictures and images do they show? What is the tone of voice the narrator uses? What emotion do those things evoke? All of those elements are there for a reason and were chosen specifically to make you feel sadness and pity, and maybe even a little bit of guilt.
Another example of an appeal to pity is when kids try to make their parents feel bad for making them do things that are good for them like eating vegetables, not watching scary movies or going to bed on time. Right?!? The kids say, “but all my friends have watched this movie and I’m the only one who hasn’t seen it. It’s not fair!” This is an appeal to pity, trying to make the parent feel sorry for their kid.
Or how about this example: “I went out on a limb for you, so you owe me big time.” That’s an attempt to get someone to do something based on a feeling of guilt or owing them something.
Like all appeals to emotion, the problem with an appeal to pity is that it’s asking us to do something based purely on the emotion they’re trying to get you to feel, rather than giving you a solid and real argument.
Or it’s like a student arguing that they deserve an A on an assignment just b/c they worked hard. They want the teacher to feel pity for them without actually addressing whether they did the assignment correctly or not.
Or it’s one parent saying to their spouse: “I know the dog just tore up all the cushions on the couch, but how can you punish him…look how adorable he is!” Appeal to Pity.
So, here’s the Question to ask yourself if you’re facing an Appeal to Emotion: “Is what they’re saying being backed up by a real argument or are they just trying to play on my emotions?”… *repeat*
In the next episode, we’re continuing this little mini-series on the appeal to emotion and we’ll be talking about the Appeal to Fear and the way fear affects us.
Remember: When you learn HOW to think, you will no longer fall prey to those who are trying to tell you what THEY want you to think and it all starts with asking one simple question: “Is that really true?”
