Outrage

Outrage is another emotion that many arguments appeal to. On Day 3 of the 2004 Republican National Convention, for example, Democratic Senator Zell Miller proclaimed, “Today’s Democratic leaders see America as an oc- cupier, not a liberator; and nothing makes this marine madder than some- one calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators!” This line drew thunderous applause, even though Miller did not give any reason ei- ther against calling American troops occupiers or for describing them as lib- erators. Nonetheless, a receptive audience will tend to assume that, if such an impressive speaker is that outraged (and if others in the audience share that outrage), then there must be something terribly objectionable about whatever the outrage is directed against. To assess such appeals to outrage, as for other emotions, we need to become aware of these common assump- tions so that they can be critically evaluated.

Appeals to emotion can also be positive. Many advertisements work by linking a product to positive feelings. Everyone knows that a car does not be- come better just because it is displayed in beautiful scenery, but it is amazing how much the scenery in advertisements can affect people’s inclinations to buy a certain car. Similarly, advocates of a treaty or government program often paint pictures of how wonderful life will be if the treaty or program works out well. Such appeals to emotion might provide some reason to adopt their plan, but these arguments can be very misleading if it is unlikely that everything will work out so well and if serious dangers will arise when something goes wrong.