Logical fallacy #11: Appeal to pity

In my previous teaching position, I was expected to have my teaching evaluated on a date that turned out to be the day after I returned from my grandmother’s funeral. I went to my department chair (directora in Spanish) and, in tears, I asked her if we could reschedule. She agreed. (In this case, I felt justified in appealing to my chair’s pity, because I really didn’t think I would be able to do my best teaching under the circumstances.) 

Definition: The appeal to pity takes place when an arguer tries to get people to accept a conclusion by making them feel sorry for someone.

 

Examples: 

a) “I know the exam is graded based on performance, but you should give me an A. My cat has been sick, my car broke down, and I’ve had a cold, so it was really hard for me to study!” The conclusion here is “You should give me an A.” But the criteria for getting an A have to do with learning and applying the material from the course; the principle the arguer wants us to accept (people who have a hard week deserve A’s) is clearly unacceptable. The information the arguer has given might feel relevant and might even get the audience to consider the conclusion—but the information isn’t logically relevant, and so the argument is fallacious. 

 

b) Pennélope writes,

I remember a particular scene in Harry Potter and the Prisioner of Azkaban where Snape and Dumbledore are talking while guarding the kids that are sleepping in the main hall. Harry is amongst these kids and he seems to be wide awake, eavesdropping on the conversation. Snape says something a long the lines of "We must let him (Harry) know that he's in danger." Dumbledore interrupts and answers, "Not now, he's sleeping. Dreams (insert poetic JK Rowling line here)." I understand this is associated with the appeal to pity fallacy because Harry being asleep is not the only reason they don't share the bad news (we see this all throughout the series) but because they understand he has been through a lot already and pity him for having such a tragic life.   

 

The argument in this situation could be something like, "Harry Potter has had such a difficult life, Snape. Take pity on him. You shouldn't let him know that his life is in danger because that would make his life that much worse."

c) She also notes, "I found this fun article showcasing an example of this logical fallacy in the 2007 Transformers film: 

https://www.bettercognitions.com/articles/appeal-to-pity-fallacy-examples/#:~:text=An%20example%20of%20the%20appeal,instead%20of%20a%20B%20minus.

Tip: Make sure that you aren’t simply trying to get your audience to agree with you by making them feel sorry for someone.

 

(Credit: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)