Examples of Fallacies: Appeal to Authority, Pity, Fear, and Ignorance
Examples of Fallacies
(1.) Appeal to Authority: An example of appealing to authority can be found in many television commercials. This fallacy is used on television by many companies trying to sell, or gain profit, by using athletes, or well-known figures to advertise their product for them. They do this in order to persuade consumers to buy their goods, due to their idols using them; even though, many of the famous people aren’t qualified to give expert opinions about the product. A commercial that uses this type of fallacy is Bacardi, who advertises tennis player Novak Djokovic saying, “Champions Drink Responsibly.”
(2.) Appeal to Pity: An example of appealing to pity can be found in many classrooms. This is when a fallacious excuse is given to make sense of an argument, or come to a conclusion, by making us feel sorry enough to make a decision of the pity. A student might use this fallacy if they forgot to do turn in an assignment by saying, “Sorry, I just couldn’t do the homework this weekend, my dog ate the work sheet you handed out.” This might get the pity of some teachers, while others will recognize the fallacy, along with making the right decision accordingly, considering that the reason could be true. (3.) Appeal to Fear: Appealing to fear is when an authority, usually higher, tries to prevail by coming to conclusions with fear. By doing this they usually disregard which situation is right and justified. An example of this fallacy can occur in a sport, such as baseball. Parents could be screaming at their children that their pitching, or batting form isn’t right, and if they don’t change it they will not be any good. However, they completely disregard that everyone is unique, and does things differently.
(4.) Appeal to Ignorance: In this appeal someone is actually asking their opponent to prove them wrong, so if they can’t they automatically are wrong. However, it is the job of the person actually purposing the argument to
(1.) Appeal to Authority: An example of appealing to authority can be found in many television commercials. This fallacy is used on television by many companies trying to sell, or gain profit, by using athletes, or well-known figures to advertise their product for them. They do this in order to persuade consumers to buy their goods, due to their idols using them; even though, many of the famous people aren’t qualified to give expert opinions about the product. A commercial that uses this type of fallacy is Bacardi, who advertises tennis player Novak Djokovic saying, “Champions Drink Responsibly.”
(2.) Appeal to Pity: An example of appealing to pity can be found in many classrooms. This is when a fallacious excuse is given to make sense of an argument, or come to a conclusion, by making us feel sorry enough to make a decision of the pity. A student might use this fallacy if they forgot to do turn in an assignment by saying, “Sorry, I just couldn’t do the homework this weekend, my dog ate the work sheet you handed out.” This might get the pity of some teachers, while others will recognize the fallacy, along with making the right decision accordingly, considering that the reason could be true. (3.) Appeal to Fear: Appealing to fear is when an authority, usually higher, tries to prevail by coming to conclusions with fear. By doing this they usually disregard which situation is right and justified. An example of this fallacy can occur in a sport, such as baseball. Parents could be screaming at their children that their pitching, or batting form isn’t right, and if they don’t change it they will not be any good. However, they completely disregard that everyone is unique, and does things differently.
(4.) Appeal to Ignorance: In this appeal someone is actually asking their opponent to prove them wrong, so if they can’t they automatically are wrong. However, it is the job of the person actually purposing the argument to