{"id":5324,"date":"2021-10-22T18:59:22","date_gmt":"2021-10-22T16:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/?p=5324"},"modified":"2025-08-11T10:58:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T08:58:51","slug":"pathetic-argument-e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/pathetic-argument-e\/","title":{"rendered":"Pathetic Argument"},"content":{"rendered":"

PATHETIC ARGUMENT<\/span><\/h1>\n

1. Pathetic argument<\/span><\/h1>\n

Pathetic<\/em> as evaluative<\/strong>
\nA participant may dismiss<\/a><\/span> an argument that he totally rejects as \u201ca pathetic, pitiful argument<\/em>\u201d because he finds it childish, empty or desperate.
\nIn this use, the label pathetic argument <\/em><\/strong>is evaluative <\/strong>and can be applied to any kind of argument scheme. One can say \u201cI find this argument pathetic<\/em>\u201d (evaluation), but not \u201cI find this argument <\/em>a pari\u201d, only \u201cin my view, this is an argument <\/em>a pari\u201d <\/strong>(description).<\/p>\n

Pathetic<\/em> as descriptive
\n<\/strong>The label \u201cpathetic argument\u201d can be applied descriptively to a variety of arguments based on negative or positive consequences<\/a>. characteristic of wishful thinking<\/span>. The conclusion is regarded as impossible<\/strong> and rejected because it would frustrate the arguer; or it is taken for granted<\/strong> because it is agreeable to him.<\/p>\n

I fear that P<\/strong>, therefore not-P<\/strong>.<\/span>
\nI wish that P<\/strong>, so P
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

– It can’t rain on Sunday, that would ruin our picnic!<\/span>
\n– That’s not possible, we couldn’t handle the consequences!
\n– If this criticism were true, what would become of our discipline?
\n<\/span>– Such pollution is unthinkable, it would claim thousands of victims.<\/p>\n

This last case may be a purely pathetic argument, or a step in an argument that ends with a call to action: \u00ab\u00a0urgent action must be taken.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

The pathetic argument applies to the realm of knowledge a style of argument that is quite common in the field of practical action:<\/p>\n

I want P<\/strong>, so I strive for P<\/strong>, I pray for P<\/strong>, I try to bring about P<\/strong>.<\/span>
\nI fear P<\/strong>, so I try to avoid P<\/strong>, to prevent P<\/strong>…<\/span><\/p>\n

But wishing<\/em> for P<\/strong> is different from striving to achieve<\/em><\/strong> P<\/strong>. This kind of\u00a0 argument can be systematically be classified as pathetic<\/em> i.e., \u201cnaive and desperate\u201d.
\nHere, the label \u00ab\u00a0pathetic argument\u00a0\u00bb corresponds to a particular kind of appeal to consequences,<\/a> with a feedback loop from effect to cause, as in the pragmatic <\/a>argument. But the pragmatic argument depends on human action, while the pathetic argument invokes a magical action.<\/p>\n

Pathemic argument and pathetic argument<\/strong><\/span>
\nA pathemic argument<\/em> is not a pathetic argument<\/em><\/strong>. <\/span>Pathemic<\/em> derives from pathos<\/a>; one can speak of a pathemic arguments<\/em> to refer to ad passiones<\/em> arguments, that is, to any emotion-based argument, such as appeal to anger, enthusiasm, pity, etc<\/p>\n

Pathetic arguments and pathemi c arguments.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. \u201cPathetic fallacy\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

The label \u201cpathetic fallacy\u201d refers to the anthropomorphic attribution of human emotions to non-human, inanimate beings. The label is evaluative, condemning the use of the rhetorical figure of personification<\/em>.
\nThe term was coined by John Ruskin:<\/p>\n

I want to examine the nature of the other error, that which the mind admits when affected strongly by emotion. Thus, for instance, in Alton Locke<\/em>,<\/span>
\nThey rowed her in across the rolling foam
\nThe cruel, crawling foam.
\n<\/em>The foam is not cruel, neither does it crawl. The state of mind which attributes to it these characters of a living creature is one in which the reason is unhinged by grief. All violent feelings have the same effect. They produce in us a falseness in all our impressions of external things, which I would generally characterize as the \u2018pathetic fallacy\u2019.<\/span>
\nJohn Ruskin, Of the pathetic fallacy<\/em>, [1856][1]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The label pathetic argument<\/em> is consistent with the label pathetic fallacy<\/em>. The pathetic fallacy condemns the personification<\/em> of the natural world, while the pathetic argument suggests that the natural world is subservient to human desires; both movements blur the boundaries between the human and the natural worlds.<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> In Modern Painters<\/em>, vol.\u2009III, part\u00a0IV, London: Smith Elder, p.\u2009160. Alton Locke<\/em> is a novel by Charles Kingsley (1850).
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PATHETIC ARGUMENT 1. Pathetic argument Pathetic as evaluative A participant may dismiss an argument that he totally rejects as \u201ca pathetic, pitiful argument\u201d because he finds it childish, empty or desperate. In this use, the label pathetic argument is evaluative and can be applied to any kind of argument scheme. One can say \u201cI find […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5324"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14663,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5324\/revisions\/14663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}