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C H A P T E R 1 5 ■ F a l l a c i e s o f R e l e v a n c e
defendantisnotguiltyorshouldnotbefoundguilty,thentheargumentis
almostalwaysfallacious.
Appeals to feararealsocommon,especiallysincealQaeda’sdestructionof
theWorldTradeCentertowersinNewYorkonSeptember11,2001.After
anotherterroristattackoccurredinLondonin2005,televisionnewsanchors
andtalk-showhostsflashedheadlineslike“Who’satrisk?”,“Arewenextin
America?”,“HowsafeareweinAmerica?”,“Howpreparedarewe?”,“Can
wepreventasubwayorabusattackintheUS?”,and“Youhavetowonder,
willweevertrulyfeelsafeagain?”Tobefair,televisionsstationsaskedthese
questionsbecausetheyknewthattheiraudienceswantedanswerstothose
veryquestions.Aproblemarisesonlywhenthemediastirsupfearsandfails
toprovideabalancedestimationoftherealdangers.Suchfearmongeringis
parodiedinStephenColbert’ssegment,“TheThreatDown,”whichlistsmore
andmoreoutrageousfears.Anevenmoreseriousproblemariseswhenpoli-
ticiansuseexaggeratedfearstogainsupportforcostlypoliciesthatcouldnot
bejustifiedbytheactualthreatsthatpeopleface.Ofcourse,itiscontroversial
howmuchfearandwhichpoliciesarejustified.LiberalsaccuseConserva-
tivesofdistortionwhenConservativesusefearofterrorismtojustifytheir
counterterroristpolicies;ConservativesaccuseLiberalsofexaggerationwhen
Liberalspaintascarypictureoftheeffectsofglobalwarming.Defendersof
anyparticularpolicycanreplythatitreallyisneededtowardoffperil.Some
fearsarejustified,includingsomefearsofterrorismandofglobalwarming,
ofcourse.Appealstofeararefallaciousonlywhentheyareoverdoneorexag-
geratedinordertoleadpeopleawayfromanaccurateassessmentoftherisks
thatreallyexist.Butthishappensalltoooften;so,wheneveranyoneappeals
tofear,weneedtoaskwhetherthosefearsarebeingamplifiedandabused.
Outrageisanotheremotionthatmanyargumentsappealto.OnDay 3 of
the 2004 RepublicanNationalConvention,forexample,DemocraticSenator
ZellMillerproclaimed,“Today’sDemocraticleadersseeAmericaasanoc-
cupier,notaliberator;andnothingmakesthismarinemadderthansomeone
callingAmericantroopsoccupiersratherthanliberators!”Thislinedrew
thunderousapplause,eventhoughMillerdidnotgiveanyreasoneither
againstcallingAmericantroopsoccupiersorfordescribingthemaslibera-
tors.Nonetheless,areceptiveaudiencewilltendtoassumethat,ifsuchan
impressivespeakeristhatoutraged(andifothersintheaudiencesharethat
outrage),thentheremustbesomethingterriblyobjectionableaboutwhat-
evertheoutrageisdirectedagainst.Toassesssuchappealstooutrage,asfor
otheremotions,weneedtobecomeawareofthesecommonassumptionsso
thattheycanbecriticallyevaluated.
Appealstoemotioncanalsobepositive.Manyadvertisementsworkby
linkingaproducttopositivefeelings.Everyoneknowsthatacardoesnotbe-
comebetterjustbecauseitisdisplayedinbeautifulscenery,butitisamazing
howmuchthesceneryinadvertisementscanaffectpeople’sinclinationsto
buyacertaincar.Similarly,advocatesofatreatyorgovernmentprogramof-
tenpaintpicturesofhowwonderfullifewillbeifthetreatyorprogramworks
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