Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Appeal to pity
An appeal to pity (also called argumentum ad misericordiam) is a logical fallacy in which someone tries to win support for their argument or idea by exploiting their opponent's feelings of pity or guilt.
The appeal to pity is a specific kind of appeal to emotion.
Examples
- "I hope you like my proposal. It took me six years to write and I don't know what I'd do if you reject it."
- "Look at that poor homeless kitty. I bet it hasn't eaten in days. You should adopt it."
These examples are not necessarily false, they could be true. However, to prove a statement you need to use correct thinking, not a fallacy. See argument from fallacy.
As with all logical fallacies, these ideas aren't necessarily untrue; they just aren't true for the reason stated.
10-26-2009 08:16:03
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The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details