Fallacies in Decision Making: MGT 350 Fallacy Summary and Application paper

Essay by gwendelyneUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, August 2005

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Fallacies in Decision Making

The purpose of this paper is to define and explain the relevance to critical thinking. The reason for this paper is to define and relate the relevance of three fallacies: appeal to pity, begging the question, and weak analogy, to critical thinking and the general application to decision making. The fallacies to be defined are appeal to pity or emotion, begging the question, and a weak analogy or argument of analogy. Each of these fallacies has examples of how they can be applied to today's organizations. Each of these fallacies will be explained as to the significance to critical thinking and its general application to decision making. Each of these fallacies can have multiple meanings, but they can all be simplified into one main meaning. [Well developed.]

The first fallacy, appeal to pity or emotion, will be defined and related to decision making. The appeal to pity or emotion is defined as when the "arguer tries to evoke pity [or emotion] from a reader or listener" (Bassham, 2000).

Many relief organizations use this type of analogy in their advertisements. Such relief organizations as U.S. Aid, American Red Cross, and UNICEF use appeal to pity in their advertisements. Some of these ads combine the viewers appeal to pity with an appeal to authority. [Insightful analysis] One such advertisement aired during the 2005 Superbowl, this ad used images from a recent tsunami that devastated parts of Asia. This advertisement combined those images with professional football players, Teddy Bruschi and Brian Westbrook, speaking on behalf of a tsunami relief organizations ("Tsunami Relief", 2005). Organizations that use an appeal to emotion are letting their viewers make the choice as to whether they should donate or not. These organizations may be thinking that by supplying images of the carnage...