Appeal to pity
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. Some examples are:
- "I hope you like my proposal. It took me six years to write and I don't know what I'd do if you reject it."
- "Look at that poor homeless kitty. I bet it hasn't eaten in days. You should adopt it."
These examples are not necessarily false, as they could be true. As with all logical fallacies, these ideas aren't necessarily untrue; they just aren't true for the reason stated.