Saturday, October 21, 2006

Logical Fallacies, Part 16: Appeal to Pity

The appeal to pity as a logical fallacy occurs when the writer uses pity and not the merits of a case to persuade the audience. We need more than pity to argue our point. Examples:

We should select Ms. Tosca over Mr. Rodriguez for the promotion because as a single parent she needs the money more than he does.

The financial analysts need our attention because the previous CEO disregarded their input.


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