Eliciting Emotions

Response to Classmate 1

Hello, I agree with you. Eliciting emotions is not the best way of persuading someone of something true. Even though it might work sometimes, most people will insinuate that you are playing the sympathy card to obtain something. I believe that facts and prior experience should speak for themselves while persuading people of something. Eliciting emotions while persuading people of something will lead you to question your efficiency in your skills. Questions such as, “Would you not seal deals if you couldn’t elicit your emotions?” Using emotions will leave you with afterthoughts and may affect your future undertakings, like passing an interview based on pity. People should be comfortable persuading people without the need to elicit emotions. Therefore, it is clear that eliciting emotions while trying to persuade people of something true is irrelevant in most cases because facts will be enough. Persuading people of something true is easier when you can show facts or represent facts supporting this truth.

Response to Classmate 2

Hello, I agree with you on the effectiveness of eliciting feelings of pity to persuade people. People who relate to your elicited emotions will be persuaded, but those who don’t might look down on you. When people relate to your emotions, you will be on the same page with them, and it will be easy to persuade them. The example of an elderly person on public transportation illustrates this point. Some people won’t relate to the elder needing a seat and won’t offer them a seat as expected. Although pity shouldn’t be a go-to strategy for persuading people, it might work in some situations. Furthermore, showing your emotions to people leaves you open and vulnerable, allowing others to exploit you. Emotions should, therefore, be limited while persuading people.

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Eliciting Emotions in Logical Arguments

Now that you have a better idea of what kind of arguments are arguments that appeal to emotions, ask yourself whether eliciting emotions in logical arguments is always illegitimate.

Eliciting Emotions

Perhaps it is acceptable in some situations to appeal to emotions!

In 200 words explain why you think eliciting emotions in the listener you are trying to persuade of something true is or is not a good/legitimate strategy you should use. 

Respond to classmate #1:

There are a couple of reasons as to why eliciting emotions is not the best way to persuade someone. I liked the example that was mentioned about how a person who was being interviewed and he chose to appeal to the emotions of the person who was conducting the interview. First of all, for the sake of a business, I don’t think the business should really prioritize the feelings of any individual. The goal of a business is to make money, so the emotions of an individual shouldn’t matter. Also, if the interviewer gave the person a job based on emotion, the new hire would have to carry that thought with him as he goes through the job. He would have that chip on his shoulder just because of the fact that he was gifted with the job. The job wasn’t given to him because of the skills that he possessed but simply because someone felt bad for that individual. Also, if the new hire doesn’t perform well, that might make the interviewer look bad because he helped bring the new hire on board. There is just too many complications that are going to come with hiring someone based on emotion. People should look to make decisions when they are feeling calm. Decisions shouldn’t be made when an individual is happy, sad, or mad because those feelings are sure to influence decisions. Decisions based on feelings are regretted later on. Using feelings might be a good way to convince somebody to assist you. However, it might not be useful in the long term. There are certain situations where using emotions are alright. If I was a homeless individual, I would try to appeal to peoples emotions so that I can get money so that I can survive. In the specific instance it is okay to try to make people feel bad for you. Most of the time using emotions isn’t a good way to persuade someone.

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Respond to classmate #2:

When it comes to eliciting emotions in the listener you are trying to persuade of something true, I think it can be a legitimate strategy, only by use of an appeal to pity. I believe that both an appeal to force and an appeal to fear go hand in hand, and can be interchanged. When an appeal to pity comes to mind, I instantly think of the elderly who rely on public transportation in order to reach their destination. Often, whenever the elderly board a bus or a train, either a conductor or a fellow civilian will ask the public, “Can anyone offer their seat for the elderly?” In all my years of taking public transportation, I have never hesitated to offer up my seat for the elderly nor have I witnessed many people refusing to do so as well. In this example, not much of an argument can be made on behalf of the elderly other than the fact that their age prohibits them from withstanding long periods of time standing up. This argument cannot be seen as some sort of sob story or tactic used in order to seek out an advantage. People willingly offer up their seats for the elderly, not only because it is the respectful thing to do, but also because they have older family members whom they’d want to receive the same treatment if they were in the same scenario. Due to the fact that people are able to relate to the elderly in some way, this creates a mutual understanding between both parties. An appeal to pity should always be used as long as the emotion is mutual between you and the listener, and from there, the listener will decide if your argument is effective. Both an appeal to force and an appeal to fear only allows one party to be dominant, and doesn’t allow for any common mutuality to be formed.

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