LEGAL TECHNIQUES

FALLACIES:
A. Appeal to Emotion
B. Strawman Fallacy

Submitted By:

Bejison, Andro Carlo

Briones, Erica Mae I.
Cabagbag, Andrea M.
Dela Cruz, Anna Bettina B.
Fernandez, Ma. Kristina

3rd Yr. – Section D

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 APPEAL TO EMOTION
Argumentum ad Passiones

- a logical fallacy characterized by the recipient’s emotions in order to win an argument, especially
by the absence of factual evidence.

 In this fallacy, there is an attempt to manipulate an emotional response in place of a valid

or compelling argument.
 It includes appeals to fear, envy, hatred, pity, pride, and more.

THE PROBLEM
 Sometimes a logically coherent argument may inspire emotion or have an emotional
aspect, but the problem and fallacy occurs when emotion is used instead of logical
argument, or to obscure the fact that no compelling rational reason exists for one’s
position.
 It is a very common and effective argument tactic, but they are ultimately flawed and
dishonest.
 Appeal to emotion does not rely on facts and evidence, rather they rely on playing on
emotions.

EXAMPLES
 An example would be a political ad that shows the candidate shaking hands with the
people of community as he leaves church on Sunday morning.
In the example given above, the politician wants to give an impression to the public that
he is God fearing, that he is kind, that he is approachable, and indicates openness to the
people. In effect, many people will think that it would be wise to vote for him.

EXCEPTION
 Appealing to emotions is a very powerful and necessary technique in persuasion. We are
emotional creatures; therefore, we often make decisions and form beliefs erroneously
based on emotions, when reason and logic tell us otherwise.
 However, using appeals to emotion as a backup to rational and logical arguments is not
only valid, but a skill possessed by virtually every great communicator.
 Appeal to emotions is not always out of place in logical thinking. There are instances
wherein appealing to emotion is relevant. To distinguish between relevant and fallacious
appeals to emotion is based on the distinction between arguments which aim to
motivate us to action, and those which are intended to convince us to believe something.
Appeals to emotion are always fallacious when intended to influence our beliefs, but they
are sometimes reasonable when they aim to motivate us to act.
o However, for this to be considered as a valid argument, there should be a causal
connection between the action motivated by the emotion and the circumstances
that arouse the emotion. An example of a fallacious argument under this, though

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 motivating us to act, is the appeal to pity or sympathy, which is used by many
charities.

THE STRAW MAN FALLACY

 In this fallacy, a person misrepresents someone’s argument to make it easier to attack.

 By exaggerating, misrepresenting, or just completely fabricating someone's argument, it's
much easier to present a person’s own position as being reasonable.
 In this fallacy, someone attacks a position the opponent doesn’t really hold. Essentially,
the person using the strawman pretends to attack their opponent’s stance, while in
reality they are actually attacking a version of that stance which their opponent doesn’t
necessarily support.

Logical Form:

Person 1 makes claim Y.

Person 2 restates person 1’s claim (in a distorted way). (Presenting a distorted version of the
original version, while pretending that there’s no difference between the two versions)

Person 2 attacks the distorted version of the claim.

Therefore, claim Y is false.

THE PROBLEM
 'Strawmanning' your opponent can be an effective strategy in an argument. If your
audience doesn't realize that's what you're doing, you may succeed in convincing them
that your opponent's view is wrong.
 However, it's an intellectually dishonest strategy & so not useful for getting at the truth
about things.

EXAMPLE
 A: Abortion should never be legalized.
B: People who think abortion should be banned have no respect for the rights of women;
women should have the right to choose. They treat them as nothing but baby-making
machines.
 A: We should not be rude to the new girl.
B: I cannot believe you choose to be friends with the new girl rather than us.

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EXCEPTION
 At times, an opponent might not want to expand on the implications of his or her
position, so making assumptions might be the only way to get the opponent to point out
that your interpretation is not accurate, then they will be forced to clarify.

VARIANTS OF THE STRAWMAN

Hollow-man arguments

 It is an argument which involves inventing a weak fictitious position and attributing it to a

vaguely-defined group who is supposed to represent the opposition, before attacking it
in an attempt to discredit your opponent.
 As opposed with strawman, hollow-man arguments are completely fabricated and has
nothing to do with the stance of the person attacked.

Iron-man Arguments

 It is an argument which involves distorting your own stance in order to make it easier for
you to defend. It is to strengthen your own stance and weaken the other person’s stance.
 One of the most prominent ways to create an iron-man argument is to use vague
statements that are easy to agree with, even if they don’t have much to do with your
actual point.

Steel-man arguments

 It is an argument which involves distorting your opponent’s argument in order to make it

easier for them to defend, and more difficult for you to attack.

HOW TO COUNTER A STRAWMAN

These are some of the strategies in order to counter a strawman:
 Use clear and definitive language, with as little room for misinterpretation. This makes it
more difficult for your opponent to distort your stance, and makes it easier for you to
correct them if they attempt to do so.
 Point out the strawman. Call out your opponent on their use of the strawman, by
explaining why their argument is fallacious, and how it distorts your original stance.
 Ignore the strawman. Choose to ignore the distorted version of your argument that your
opponent presents, and continue to advocate for your original position.
 Accept the strawman. In some cases, it might be necessary or preferable to accept a
strawman when defending your stance, meaning that instead of arguing in favor of the
original stance, one could start defending the distorted version, as presented by the
opponent. However, it is noteworthy that the longer a person goes down this route, the
more difficult it will be to go back and point out the opponent’s fallacious reasoning,

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 since by defending the argument presented in strawman you appear to accept it as your
own stance.

SOURCES:
https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/29/Appeal-to-Emotion
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/appeal-to-emotion
http://www.softschools.com/examples/fallacies/appeal_to_emotion_examples/434/
https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/169/Strawman-Fallacy
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman
http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~alatus/2801/StrawMan.html
https://effectiviology.com/straw-man-arguments-recognize-counter-use/