The Emotive Argument

The Emotive Argument: „Emotional. or „emotive. arguments can take many forms. It is
possible to influence persuasive outcomes by deliberately using prejudiced terms which
elicit a more favorable or hostile response than the bare facts would indicate. Advertisers,
lawyers, politicians, journalists and speakers at mass meetings are generally good at this:
“Whom are we to admire? A lone, conscientious man who speaks out the truth, or a
group of power-hungry and blinkered tyrants?” [Not much choice, huh?]
Partiality, self-interest, bias and prejudice should not influence our judgment in matters of
fact. Language can be calculated to appeal to the emotional leanings or needs of the
audience, distracting attention from the evidence and logic of the argument.
The Illogical Argument: Illogical arguments contain gaps in the logical progression
from the premise to the conclusion. Often
. a false conclusion is derived from reasonable premises by:
o Assuming that two events which occur together or one after another must
be related as cause and effect: “Jane came to the office the day the file
disappeared. She must have stolen it.”
o Confusing general statements with specific cases: “The teaching at that
college is excellent. He teaches there. He must be great.” Or: “He used to
be a car salesman, and we know they.re crooks. He can.t be trusted.”
. A conclusion is derived from false premises: “If it were any good, they would
have installed it ages ago. They haven.t, so it isn.t any good.”
. An unestablished conclusion is used to prove itself: “We ought to raise salaries
because it is right that we pay more.” (i.e., because we ought to raise salaries!) Or:
”I am asking you to do this because I trust you.” “How do I know you trust me?”
“Because I am asking you to do this.”