Verified Document

Emotional Ethical And Logical Fallacies Essay

Fallacy of Emotion Emotional appeals are commonly used in the media, although good journalists avoid them when communicating the facts to the public. Politicians, on the other hand, rely willingly and frequently on emotional appeals to sway their audiences in the same way that marketers do. The politicians’ reactions to the Las Vegas shootings of October 2, 2017 reveals the different ways emotional appeals are used to sway or influence the public, while simultaneously diverting attention from the real issues. President Trump responded to the Vegas mass shooting as an “act of pure evil,” a moralistic judgment that speaks directly to those who believe in the Biblical duality of good versus evil. In fact, Trump went on to say, “We pray for the day when evil is banished. May God provide the grieving families with strength to carry on,” highlighting his appeal to emotion through the socially acceptable medium of religion. Expressing sympathy is a logical response in a tragedy like this one, and there are bound to be legitimate emotions. However, reacting to the tragedy using religious terminology is illogical and unnecessary. Equally as fallacious is the appeal to anger among the general public, either by lashing out against politicians and the NRA or against the media for not...

It is important to investigate the root causes of mass shootings, but using emotions to do so may be manipulative and illogical.
Works Cited

“Trump calls Las Vegas massacre an 'act of pure evil'.” The Week. Retrieved online: Trump calls Las Vegas massacre an 'act of pure evil'http://theweek.com/5things/728222/trump-calls-las-vegas-massacre-act-pure-evil

Ethical Fallacy

The straw man argument is one of the most common ethical fallacies. In Robbins’s article lambasting the NFL players who protest, the author writes, “These jocks probably were not history majors.” Not only does his statement come across as sanctimonious and insulting by assuming that the athletes were not history majors (why wouldn’t they be?), Robbins bases his argument in part on the fallacy of discrediting athletes as not being educated enough to use their right to protest. The author makes a blanket assumption about the players’ knowledge of American history and uses the ad hominem ethical fallacy to lure the reader into believing that the players are acting in a way that is contrary to core American values. For example, Robbins also notes that the protests are “not a…

Sources used in this document:

Works Cited

Robbins, James. NFL commits suicide by Trump with politically correct protests. USA Today. Retrieved online: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/09/26/fl-stop-self-destructive-grandstanding-and-just-play-football-james-robbins-column/701472001/


Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Resolving Ethical Dilemmas in Business
Words: 1484 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Business Ethics An ethical dilemma is defined as a situation where "an agent has moral reasons for doing two different actions, but where doing both of those two actions in not possible" (McConnell, 2014). Businesses often find themselves in what they believe to be moral dilemmas, if only because of the way that they are framing the issue. In the first scenario, there is no ethical dilemma for James. He perceives

Identifying Fallacies
Words: 611 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

Inductive Reasoning and Fallacies in Today's Popular Mass Media (Tabloid News Articles and Advertising Campaigns) In popular mass media, information has become a valuable source of profit. Motivated by the lucrative media business, publishing companies and media agencies sought to provide people with sensational stories and numerous information in order to generate a following in the society. Through tabloid newspapers and advertising, the mass media are able to cater to the

Black Market and Cannabis
Words: 2048 Length: 6 Document Type: Essay

California Proposition 64, the California Marijuana Legalization Initiative, would legalize marijuana/cannabis for adults over the age of 21. The legalization measure only applies to the state of California, as federal law continues on its war on drugs/prohibition path. Proposition 64 was on the ballot in the November 8, 2016 federal election. Prior to passing this Proposition, cannabis was illegal, and possession of cannabis was punishable by law. This proposition would

Ethics and Moral Guidelines Criminal Justice
Words: 1933 Length: 6 Document Type: Essay

.....personal ethics derive from a combination of established codifications of moral conduct, such as those embedded in political documents or in religious scripture, but also from my personality, my upbringing, and my worldview. I tend towards a utilitarian point-of-view, in that I do believe that the consequences of actions are more important than worrying about whether an action is inherently right or wrong. I also believe that there are situational

Principal Ideas or Arguments Advanced.
Words: 941 Length: 2 Document Type: Questionnaire

The metaphor of the jigsaw puzzle-- "what good would it do to finish early? Three, the jigsaw puzzle isn't the important thing. The important thing is the fun of four people (one thin person included) sitting around a card table, working a jigsaw puzzle"-- illustrates that fat people enjoy the process of life and live in the moment, versus thin people who are purpose-driven and obsessed with completing tasks, even

Slavery in American History. Specifically
Words: 2557 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

33). Slavery was an institution, and as such, it had become outmoded in modern society of the time. Elkins feels slavery could have been viewed less emotionally and more realistically as an institution, rather than an ethical or moral dilemma, and this is one of the most important arguments in his book, which sets the stage for the rest of his writing. In his arguments for his theses, Elkins continues,

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now