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. An appeal to emotion in an argument with a prescriptive conclusion can be good or bad. It is important to be alert to the use of emotion because it helps to clarify the kinds of premises needed in such an argument. Therefore, it is more easy to analyze. Any appeal to motion with a descriptive conclusion is bad if the appeal cannot be deleted as premise.
An appeal to emotion that catches my attention is the appeal to pity. The reason why it appeals to me is because like all of my other examples I have discussed for this class, the appeal to pity is something I have experienced. I did not realize that I had been appealed by pity in the past because I never thought of it as having some sort of term. Similar to what many of you may have encountered, I have been appealed by pity when it comes to the homeless. We see their sad living conditions, lack of adequate clothing, and belongings only stored in small knapsacks that we cannot help but feel pity for them. Because of the pity we feel, some of us give them extra change or even whole dollars. Giving them money seems plausible because most would assume they use the money for food or other necessities but how do we know what they really use the money for? Some homeless men even have cardboard signs that read "I'm not gonna lie. It's for cigarettes." Some may even use the donated money for drugs and other illegal activity. In these cases, it is implausible to give them money but the truth is that we may never know what they use the money for.
You have a good example of appeal to pity. I know the feeling of pity and I am 100 percent with you on the homeless. I mean I feel bad already that they are on the streets and whenever I have change, I will give them some. I even give them water bottles because on a hot day, everyone needs to have water in their system or they will be dehydrated. My mom always yells at me for giving the homeless some change or even a dollar or two. Why? Well, she thinks that some homeless are not even homeless. That is just how they make their money. In addition, they can use it on drugs, like you said. There are many homeless in downtown San Jose. Whenever I walk to the bus stop to get home, there are all these homeless people that are looking for change. Instead of asking people for money, they should make a change and get climb back up the pyramid.
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