Refutation of Pity Appeals

The appeal to pity, like the appeals to authority, ad populum, and precedents, is largely an attempt to gain the sympathy of the audience. If any of these appeals has been successful, then it is important to realize that the audience has a certain sympathy for that kind of argument. Hence the refutation follows one of two patterns; either we invoke a higher order appeal of the same nature, or we attempt to turn the tables.

If your opponent has appealed to pity, then you should act as if his example of pity is a general premise. Then add some premise of your own that you think would be accepted by the audience and derive a conclusion which is inconsistent with that of your opponent. We suppose the appeal to pity to have been an effective one. The audience obviously feels pity for those who suffer. The only way to counter this appeal is to point out that, then (adding the supplementary premise). Now add:

We turn the tables by deriving a different conclusion from the same premise: because of x, therefore y.

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