Appeal to pity:
Emotional Fallacy
| Definition | Example |
| Evoking sympathy in an attempt to validate a position. | If there is no after-life, then the lives of tens of millions suffering in poverty have no meaning. |
| Notes | |
| This is only a fallacy when it serves as a foundation for a particular claim. | |
Case Study One
Teachers and professors hear this appeal to symapthy on a regular basis. Students sometimes claim that a well-deserved poor grade will reduce their chances of entering a good university which will lower their chances of a good career and ultimately ruin their lives.
Keep in mind that a fallacious argument does not entail an erroneous position.
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