This is the correlary point i was going to mention, too. Sometimes, an emotional factor is a criterion by which a logical conclusion is being measured. Similarly, it can be an "assumption" used to seed a logical process.
"I empathize with cows" can be a starting assumption in the logical conclusion to not have a hamburger for dinner.
I can see why they included this as a "fallacy" on their list, but it's less a logical fallacy per se and more just a tactic of debate/persuasion. I agree that abortion is a good example: the goal of the sensationalist materials is simply to persuade, not to "convince" anyone of a logical conclusion. (At least one activist with whom i spoke about exactly that absolutely agreed; he said their goal was simply to save lives as they saw it, and that while the disturbing imagery was regrettable, he had hard evidence to support that it was worth it because it was effective.)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-02-09 07:04 pm (UTC)"I empathize with cows" can be a starting assumption in the logical conclusion to not have a hamburger for dinner.
I can see why they included this as a "fallacy" on their list, but it's less a logical fallacy per se and more just a tactic of debate/persuasion. I agree that abortion is a good example: the goal of the sensationalist materials is simply to persuade, not to "convince" anyone of a logical conclusion. (At least one activist with whom i spoke about exactly that absolutely agreed; he said their goal was simply to save lives as they saw it, and that while the disturbing imagery was regrettable, he had hard evidence to support that it was worth it because it was effective.)