Appeal to Emotion

Emotion plays a significant role in making decisions for everyday life, “An appeal to emotion in an argument is a premise that says you should believe or do something because you feel a certain way (Epstein 191)”. When appealing to emotion no valid logic is used instead the recipients emotions are manipulated to make the argument seem valid and logical. Some different aspects to appeal to emotion are appeal to fear, appeal to pity, appeal to spite and appeal to vanity. The aspect that strikes me most is appeal to pity. I would most often find myself feeling bad from advertisements where appeal to pity is used. The appeal to pity the advertiser uses makes me feel compelled to give money to the organization and help when I don’t even know anything about the cause or organization. In my personal experience I find myself most subject to appeal to pity. Emotion does play an important part in making a decision but at the same time too much emotion can change your perception and decision.