A Feel-Good Argument

We touched on feel good arguments in discussion question 2 of this week, but only by briefly answering a question about it. I thought it deserved a little more discussion. A feel good argument is defined by the text by Epstein as “one that appeals to our wanting to feel good about ourselves” (this argument is actually pretty self-explanatory in its name alone). Feeling good about our self’s includes physically, mentally and emotionally, so any argument that is appealing to how you feel about yourself in any of these ways is considered a feel-good argument. If you want to find examples of feel-good arguments a good place to look is cosmetic and beauty product advertisements or Victoria Secret’s ads. Arguments using this appeal are trying to get you to use their product or participate in their organization to make your self feel better. They often have a negative reputation, but these ads don’t always have to be a bad thing. Sometimes they can really help improve the way someone feels about himself or herself.