"Dont shoot me I have two kids" Your making a logical fallacy called &

Question:

"Dont shoot me I have two kids" Your making a logical fallacy called "appeal to pity" so I will shoot you.

Why is the appeal to pity a logical fallacy? If this is a fallacy then why cant I see it? In my example am I blinded by the fact thay I agree with the conclusion of the argumet that killing is wrong?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: You have failed to give a rationale for not shooting; you are not appealing to reason. The existence of your kids is not a reason not to shoot - only the existence of pity would be. The argument you are making is:

I have kids.
They deserve your pity.
If you shoot me they will suffer.
If they suffer, those who pity them will suffer, including you.
Therefore you should not shoot me.

But 'they deserve your pity' is not a fact. It's a value-based judgment. You cannot assume that the gun wielder agrees about whether the kids deserve his pity (although in this particular case, he'd have to be pretty darned damaged to not pity them). So your argument is technically invalid; it appeals to pity and not to reason.

Perhaps you are blinded by your emotional response to the situation. Try putting the argument in logical symbols to get away from that, and see it as pure reason.