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Appeal to Guilt |
| Description: | ||
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| The argument attempts to persuade by making the person to be persuaded feel guilty for not accepting the position. | ||
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| Examples: | ||
| "Aren't you ashamed of yourself for not buying this car, after I've gone to all the work to fill out the credit application?" | ||
| "It would break your mother's heart to hear you defend those immoral Harry Potter books in that way." | ||
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| Discussion: | ||
| It is sometimes
difficult to understand what someone else is saying, especially when that
person is trying to give a complex argument in support of an opinion.
Naturally, we tend to interpret what we are hearing in light of our own
experience. Words and phrases can carry different meanings for different
people. As a result, we may fail to follow an argument that is perfectly
sound. When this occurs, it is to be expected that the other person - the
person making the argument - will criticize our inability to understand.
Being permitted to point out that a misunderstanding has occurred is
necessary in a conversation in which misunderstandings might occur.
Hence, it is only good reasoning to permit criticism. Moreover, if my own
understanding of an argument turns out to be deficient in some way, it is
even natural for me to feel a degree of shame or guilt. The fallacy of Appeal to Guilt mimics this situation in which a reasoner criticizes his listener for failing to correctly follow the offered reasoning. However, in this case, the reasoner has not actually offered any reasoning for the listener to follow. The criticism (and accompanying guilt) create an illusion that a complex logical argument has been offered, implying that anyone who fails to be persuaded by it has simply failed to understand. |
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| Classification: A Fallacy of Irrelevance (a deductive fallacy of soundness with a falsehood in the major premiss) in the Personal Appeals family. | ||
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| Source: I named this one specifically to create a match for Runkle's "Appeal to Flattery." I felt the addition of this fallacy was justified by the common practice of telephone solicitors to use guilt as a high-pressure sales tactic. However, I am fairly sure that I am not the first logician to use the phrase "Appeal to Guilt." Please contact me if you know of an earlier reference to this fallacy. | ||
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