Appeal to emotion or
argumentum ad passiones is a logical
fallacy which uses the
manipulation of the recipient's emotions, rather than valid logic, to win an argument. The appeal to emotion fallacy uses emotions as the basis of an argument's position without factual evidence that logically supports the major ideas endorsed by the elicitor of the argument. Also, this kind of thinking may be evident in one who lets emotions and/or other subjective considerations influence one's reasoning process. This kind of appeal to emotion is a type of
red herring and encompasses several logical fallacies, including:
Appeal to consequences Appeal to fear Appeal to flattery Appeal to pity Appeal to ridicule Appeal to spite Wishful thinking