Appeal to Emotion

The Epstein text states that the Appeal to Emotion is “do[es] and should play a role in our reasoning” (191). I agree that Appeal to Emotion should play an important role, because when making decisions without considering emotion, decisions can be harmful and detrimental to others. The Appeal to Emotion has various appeals that apply to different aspects of emotions; one that appealed to me the most was appeal to pity. This appealed to me the most because I feel as if it is most prevalent in our society. Appeal to Pity targets one’s pity and empathy towards others. An example of this that I personally see often on television are the infomercials that try to encourage the community to donate money towards children in third world countries or animals who are in a pound or other harmful setting. In these commercials, viewers see children and animals in dirty and unfit environments, where they are scavenging for food and shelter. Usually both the animals and children are unnaturally skinny and there is sad, depressing music playing. A celebrity or well known public figure is narrating the commercial, in attempt to make the public feel sorry for the animals and children.