It may not be so obvious, but appeal to spite is very common during our everyday conversations- whether may it be with classmates and even most likely to happen between friends. According to Epstein, appeal to spite is a statement that is “the hope of revenge” and is considered immoral for other cultures because it’s somehow a way “to ‘get even,’ to preserve one’s ‘honor’.” For example:
Jeremy: It’s almost Jennifer’s birthday. Are you planning on throwing her a surprise party?
Jasmine: Yeah, actually I haven’t thought of that. That sounds like a great idea. She would love that.
John: Why would you even do that for her if she forgot your birthday last year, and didn’t even bother saying sorry to you when I reminded her? I wouldn’t even care if I were you.
It is usually not a good argument, for it does not really support why someone shouldn’t help the other with a reasonable response, instead they reason out based on the unfairness that the person experienced before.
Appealing to spite is one of my most favorite ones of all the appeals to emotion. That is because I think all of us have experienced appeal to spite in our lives at least once. If not, consider yourself a Mother Theresa. Anyway, you provided a very good example. Yes, I agree that not all appeals to spites are good arguments because it is only trying to get one person to be even with another person. One time my friend did not share food with me but he shared with others. So I used that against him when he tried to ask for food from me, and I told him flat out "no" because he didn't share with me the last time I requested. Appeal of Spite isn't exactly the best way to argue in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAppeal to spite is kinda messed up if you think about it. Depending on the person if he/she wants help or not even if the other person did not help you. Someone can be the kill joy in appeal to spite. If they say No they are messed up because karma can hit anytime. Doing a good deed for another person can make you feel good inside. For me i would help another regardless who the person is if he/she is nice to me. But if it is a random person I do not know I will pass on it. Good post, hope to read more from you.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great example of appeal to spite! As I've read some of the class's examples for appeal to spite, I am beginning to realize this appeal to emotion is more common than anyone thinks. I believe it is often used, however, we do not realize that it is occurring. For example, it is easy to recognize an appeal to fear or pity; both are used very frequently in advertisement and we are better at spotting these appeals. Appeal to spite can often be confused with jealously or anger. Ultimately, this is probably the real root of appeal to spite.
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