10 Too Much

Emotion

Emotions do and should play a role in our reasoning: We cant even begin to make
good decisions if we dont consider their significance in our lives. But that doesnt
mean we have to be swayed entirely by our emotions.
An appeal to emotion in an argument is just a premise that says you should
believe or do something because you feel a certain way. Often we call the entire
argument in which such a premise appears an appeal to emotion.
For example, last night Suzy and Tom were watching TV.
Suzy: Did you see that ad? Its so sad, I cried. That group says it will
help those poor kids. We should send them some money.
To construe this as a good argument, we need to add If you feel sorry for poor kids,
you should give money to any organization that says it will help them. Thats an
appeal to pity. Its implausible: some drug cartels help kids, too.
Compare what Zoe said to Dick last week:
We should give to the American Friends Service Committee. They help
people all over the world help themselves, and they dont ask those they
help whether they agree with them. Theyve been doing it well for nearly
a century now, and they have very low overhead: almost all the money
they get is used for projects to help people. All those people who dont
have running water or health care deserve our help. Think of those poor
kids growing up malnourished and sick. Weve got enough money to
send them $50.
This requires an unstated premise appealing to pity, too. But it isnt just Do it
because you feel sorry for someone. Whats needed is something like If you feel
sorry for people, and you have a way to help them that is efficient and morally
upright, and you have enough money to help, then you should send the organization
money. That seems plausible, though whether this is the best use of Zoe and Dicks
money needs to be considered, too.

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Appealing to fear is a way politicians and advertisers manipulate people. For

example, on the cover of a free three-minute video mailed to voters homes in Las
Vegas there is a picture of a bearded young man in a sweatshirt, pointing a gun
directly at the reader with the following text.
At 14 Years Old He Stole A Car.
At 16 He Raped.
At 17 He Killed.
And He Still Doesnt Have A Record.
We Cannot Continue To Allow Violent Criminals To Terrorize Our Neighborhoods.
Las Vegas Review
Journal Tuesday,
June 25, 1996
Living in Fear
. . . By many
measures, the threat
of youth related crime
and its fallout are on
the rise in Las Vegas
Valley . . .

Reuter News Service

Friday, June 18, 1996
Nevada Rated Most
Dangerous State
. . . Nevada is the
most dangerous state
in the nation this year
. . . according to an
independent midwest
research firm.

Reno Gazette Journal

Sunday, July 14, 1996
Youth-Crime Increase
Alarms Officials
The rise in violent
crime young people
commit is the most
serious issue confronting the juvenile
system today . . .

Elect COBB Nevada State Senate

This is an argument. The unstated conclusion is You should vote for Cobb. The
only reason it gives for electing Cobb is fear. And in this particularly egregious
example it doesnt even link the fear to the conclusion. An appeal to fear is bad if it
substitutes one legitimate concern for all others, clouding our minds to alternatives.
Often it requires some thought to see whether an appeal to fear is good.
Consider the advertisement:
A lonely road. Your car breaks down. Its dark. Arent you glad you
have a Dorkler interactive alert system that can contact our office with
your location!
The implicit argument here is Because your car might break down at night on a
lonely road, you should buy a Dorkler interactive alert system. Whats needed to
make it a strong argument is a premise like A Dorkler brand interactive alert system
will save you from the dangers of the night. Thats not so implausible. But it isnt
enough. Also needed is Your only consideration in deciding whether to buy this
brand of interactive alert system is your concern about your safety. Thats
implausible.
Sometimes, though, an appeal to fear can be the sole legitimate factor in
making a decision:

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Zoe: You shouldnt drive so fast in this rain.

Dick: Why not?
Zoe: The roads are very slippery after the first rain of the season,
and we could get into a serious accident.
This argument appeals to Dicks fears, but appropriately so. The unstated and quite
plausible appeal to emotion is You should slow down driving in the rain if you are
afraid of getting into a serious accident.
An appeal to spite, the hope of revenge, is invariably rejected as bad by some
people on moral grounds. In some cultures, though, its not only acceptable but a
moral imperative to get even, to preserve ones honor. We encounter this kind
of argument often enough:
Dick:
Tom:
Dick:
Zoe:

Hi, Tom. Whats wrong with your car?

The batterys dead. Can you help me push it? Harry will steer.
Sure.
(whispering) Whatre you doing, Dick? Dont you remember
that Tom wouldnt help you fix the fence last week?

What Zoe said isnt an argument, but we can construe it as one: You shouldnt help
Tom start his car because he wouldnt help you last week. The premise needed to
make this a strong argument is You shouldnt help anyone who has refused to help
you (recently). Well leave to you whether thats plausible.
An appeal to spite often invokes the principle that two wrongs make a right.
For example, when a new national monument was declared in Utah just before the
1996 presidential election, some who were opposed to it complained there was no
consultation before the decision, no due process. Heres what the Southern Utah
Wilderness Alliance, strong lobbyists for the monument, said in their November
1996 Bulletin:
Q: What about due process?
A: Due process meant nothing to Utah politicians last year when they tried to
ramrod their anti-wilderness proposal down the throat of not only Utahns,
but all Americans; their intransigence only proved to the President that
rational negotiation on land protection issues in southern Utah is not possible.

An argument that calls in your debts appeals to the opposite of spite:

You should believe or do something if you owe someone a favor. For example,
yesterday Lee said to Dick:
How can you go to the movies with Harry and not watch the game with
me? Dont you remember how I helped you wash your car last week?
Calling in your debts as a motive is often nothing more than milking guilt.

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It isnt only the negative emotions that are played on in trying to convince.
A feel-good argument is one that appeals to our wanting to feel good about
ourselves. Yesterday Suzy said to Dr. E,
I really deserve a passing grade in your course. I know that youre a fair
grader, and youve always been terrific to everyone in the class. I admire
how you handle the class, and Ive enjoyed your teaching so much that it
would be a pity if I didnt have something to show for it.
Gee, Dr. E thinks, I guess I should pass her . . . No, wait, she hasnt given me
any reason to change her grade. The premise thats missing is You should give a
passing mark to anyone who thinks youre a great person. This apple polishing is
an appeal to vanity.
But not every comment on what seems to be vanity is a bad argument:
To Have and to Hold
Get healthy, shiny hold with Pantene Pro-V Hairspray. The pro-vitamin
formula penetrates to make your hold strong and your shine last. Now, spray
your way to all-day hold and all-day shine. With Pantene Pro-V Hairsprays.
PANTENE PRO-V For Hair So Healthy It Shines

This attempt to convince you to buy their hairspray requires an unstated premise that
you want to look good with shiny, well-kept hair. That may be true. Whether to
believe the other claims, though, and whether to believe the unstated premise that
this hairspray is the best to satisfy your desire to look good, are the real issues.
Yet sometimes invoking our wish to feel good is all thats needed. As Zoe said
to Dick:
We should go to the Zoe Austen movie tonight. Ive always liked her
novels, and Im sure Ill enjoy it, and you said it was my turn to pick.
After all, what besides feeling good is there in making a choice of which movie to
see?
Finally, theres the appeal to tradition: If it was good enough for father, then
its good enough for me.
In September, despite an increasing chorus of complaints, Peruvians celebrated
the annual Gastronomic Festival of the Cat in a village just south of Lima,
serving a variety of feline delicacies (fried cat strips, cat stew, grilled cat with
spicy huacatay). For the most part, according to a Chicago Tribune report, the
dishes are made with specially bred cats rather than street prowlers, and are
consumed for their health benefits, though centuries-old tradition is the likeliest
explanation. Said one Peruvian, such cultural events are our roots and cant be
forgotten.
Chicago Tribune, 10/15/08

Each appeal to emotion weve looked at has a prescriptive conclusion: each is

an attempt to convince someone that he or she should do something.

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An appeal to emotion in an argument with a prescriptive conclusion

can be good or can be bad. Being alert to the use of emotion helps
clarify the kinds of premises needed in such an argument so we can
more easily analyze it.
Bad arguments that appeal to emotion arent bad just because they appeal to
emotion. Theyre bad for the same reasons other arguments are bad: they have false
premises, or are weak, or assume dubious unstated premises. If Flo says Im not
eating vegetables because I hate em, shes making a bad argument, since the
unstated premise Flo should eat only what she likes is dubious, for then shed eat
only ice cream and lollipops.
Labeling an argument as an appeal to emotion, then, is not an analysis of the
argument but only a helpful start to seeing whether the argument is good or bad.
Except in some cases, . . .

This is an appeal to emotion with a descriptive conclusion, an example of wishful

thinking. Its bad. Why should we believe some description of the world is true
just because we are moved by our emotions? Wanting it so doesnt make it so.
Any appeal to emotion with a descriptive conclusion is bad
if the appeal cannot be deleted as premise.

Exercises for Chapter 11

_______________________________________________

1. Write a bad argument in favor of affirmative action whose only premises appeal to pity.
2. Find an advertisement that uses apple polishing. Is it a good argument?
3. Find an advertisement that uses an appeal to fear. Is it a good argument?
4. Make up an appeal to some emotion for the next time a traffic officer stops you.

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259

5. Report to your class on a calling in your debts argument youve heard.

6. Give an example of an appeal to spite that invokes what someone believes.
(Hint: Look at political speeches.) Is it a good argument?
7. Give an example of an appeal to patriotism. Is it a good argument?
(Samuel Johnson: Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.)
(Ambrose Bierce: Patriotism is the first refuge of a scoundrel.)
For each of the following, decide if it is an argument. If it is, decide if it is an appeal to an
emotion, and if so, which emotion(s). Then decide whether its a good argument.
8. Zoe:

We should stop all experimentation on animals right now. Imagine, hurting

those poor doggies.
Dick: But theres no reason why we shouldnt continue experimenting with cats.
You know how they make me sneeze.

9. Vote for Senator Wong. He knows how important your concerns are.
10. Before you buy that Japanese car, ask whether you want to see some Japanese tycoon get
rich at your expense, or whether youd prefer to see an American kid get a meal on his
plate next week.
11. Dear Dr. E,
I was very disappointed with my grade in your critical thinking course, but Im sure
that it was just a mistake in calculating my marks. Can I speak with you this Tuesday,
right before I have lunch with my uncle, Dr. Jones, the Dean of Liberal Arts, where we
plan to discuss sexual harassment on this campus?
Sincerely, Elizabeth Burnstile
12. Mom: Go ahead, Zoe. Live with your boyfriend, Dick. Who am I to say no? Im just
your mother. Break my heart.
13. Sunbathing does not cause skin cancer. If it did, how could I enjoy the beach?
14. Democracy is the best form of government, otherwise this wouldnt be the greatest
country in the world.
15. Smoking cant cause cancer or I would have been dead a long time ago.
16. Dear Senator:
Before you make up your mind on how to vote on the abortion bill, Id like to remind
you that those who support abortion rights usually have small families. A few years
from now all my six children, and the many children of my friends, all of whom believe
abortion is morally wrong, will be voting.
17. (Advertisement)
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treatable medical symptom. Virtually every one of the twenty million men in America

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CHAPTER 10 Too Much Emotion DRAFT Spring 2012

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When men find out how effectively we treat impotence, their most frequent comment is,
If I would have known, I would have worked up the courage to call sooner.
Call us. We can help.

18. You mean that after we flew you here to Florida, paid for your lodging, showed you a
wonderful time, all for free, you arent going to buy a building site from us?
19. You shouldnt vote for gun control. Itll just make it easier for violent criminals to take
advantage of us.
20. Wanda: I know this diets going to work because I have to lose 20 pounds by the end of
this month.
21. In Dr. Es class, if a student has to miss an exam, then they have to petition to be
excused. If the petition is granted for a midterm, then the final counts that much more.
If the petition is denied, the student fails the exam. Heres an excuse petition from one
of his students, written before the exam. Is it a good argument? Should Dr. E grant it?
October seventeenth through the twenty-first I will be out of town due to a
family function. I am aware that my philosophy midterm falls on the 17th
and, unfortunately, my flight leaves at 7 a.m. that morning. I am asking to
please be excused from the midterm.
My boyfriend of two and a half years is standing as the best man in his
brothers wedding. Being together for two years, I have become as much a
part of his family as he is. This wedding is a once in a lifetime event and I
want to be there to share it with him.
I am a 100% devoted student and would never intentionally miss an exam.
However, this is something beyond my control. I understand that if my
request is granted I will have to put forth extra effort and prepare myself for
the final. With the only other alternative being to drop the course, I am fully
prepared to do whatever it takes.
I have attached a copy of my flight reservation as well as a copy of the
wedding invitation for verification. I am aware that many teachers would not
even give me the opportunity to petition to be excused when the midterm is
the case, but I would more than appreciate it if you would grant my request.

Further Study Descartes Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain
by Antonio R. Damasio is a good discussion of how emotions are essential to
good reasoning.