An appeal to pity (also called argumentum ad misericordiam) is a logical fallacy in which someone tries to win support for their argument or idea by exploiting their opponent's feelings of pity or guilt. The appeal to pity is a specific kind of appeal to emotion.

Examples

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• "I hope you like my proposal. It took me six years to write and I don't know what I'd do if you rejected it."
• "I really deserve a raise. Unless I make more money I may lose my home."
• "I hope you find the defendant not guilty of embezzlement. Just look at the poor guy, he's in a wheelchair. Show some sympathy!"
• "How can you not believe in Jesus, when he suffered for you on the cross?"

Analysis

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These examples are not necessarily wrong. The proposal may be worthy, and the client may not be guilty of embezzlement. As with all logical fallacies, these ideas may be right; they just aren't right for the reason stated. Whether the proposal is good can be determined independently of how hard the person worked on it.

However, to prove a statement one needs to use correct thinking, not a fallacy. See argument from fallacy.

See also

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• Appeal to force
• Martyr Fallacy
• Underdog Fallacy

Appeals to emotion | Cognitive biases

Apel·lació a la llàstima | אד מיסריקורדיאם | Apeliavimas į gailestį | Argumentum ad misericordiam | Argumentum ad Misericordiam