Appeal to pity

From Wikinfo

An appeal to pity is a logical fallacy in which someone tries to win support for their argument or idea by exploiting their opponent's feelings of pity or guilt.

Examples:

• "I hope you like my proposal. It took me six years to write and I don't know what I'd do if you reject it."
• "Look at that poor homeless kitty. I bet it hasn't eaten in days. You should adopt it."

As with all logical fallacies, these ideas aren't necessarily bad; they just aren't good for the reason stated.

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Appeal_to_pity" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_pity, used under the GNU Free Documentation License