# Appeal to emotion

*Also called: Argumentum ad passiones*

- **Cluster:** Emotional pressure — Feeling recruited to do the work of evidence
- **Page:** https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/appeal-emotion/
- **In Arabic:** https://fallacy.wiki/ar/fallacy/appeal-emotion.md
- **Licence:** CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

## What it is

Using feeling as the main support for a conclusion instead of reasons.

## In the wild

> Reject this policy or think of the children who will suffer.

## How to answer it

Acknowledge the feeling, then ask what evidence connects it to the conclusion.

## Origin and naming

From the Latin 'argumentum ad passiones', 'argument to the passions'. The concept is as old as rhetoric — Aristotle's 'Rhetoric' already treats emotional arousal as one of the three persuasion levers — later catalogued as a fallacy when feeling is made to carry the whole weight of a conclusion.

## More places it shows up

- A streaming ad runs sad music over footage of abandoned dogs, then asks you to endorse a shelter policy that was never actually explained.
- A manager opens the layoffs meeting with photos of the company's founding days so the room feels too nostalgic to question the numbers.
- A talk-show host chokes up while reading a viewer's letter, and the panel treats the policy question as settled.
- A comment thread turns a zoning dispute into a referendum on whether you care about your neighbors at all.

## How to spot it

- Notice when your pulse changes before any evidence has been produced.
- Notice when the conclusion only sounds right while the music is playing.
- Notice when asking 'is it true?' is treated as proof you don't care.

## Nearby

- [Appeal to fear](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/fear.md)
- [Appeal to pity](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/pity.md)
- [Wishful thinking](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/wishful-thinking.md)

## Read more

- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_emotion)
- [The Fallacy Files](https://www.fallacyfiles.org/emotiona.html)

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From fallacy.wiki — a bilingual field guide to 91 logical fallacies, published by phi holdings. Licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse freely with attribution to fallacy.wiki.