Rhetorical Appeals: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos

1. Rhetorical Appeals: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos “Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men” -- Plato

2. The Three Rhetorical Appeals “Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. The first kind depends on the personal character of the speaker; the second on putting the audience in a certain frame of mind; the third on the proof, or apparent proof, provided by the words of the speech itself.” --from Aristotle’s Treatise on Rhetoric.

3. Ethos • Greek for “character” • Premise: we believe those whom we respect • Focuses on the speaker or writer, not the audience • Calls attention to positive characteristics of the speaker to add credibility to an argument. • Equivalent of a “reliable narrator” in fiction

4. Ethos, continued In the following quote from Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul, we see a clear and straightforward example of an appeal to ethos. As an O.B. doctor of thirty years, and having delivered 4,000 babies, I can assure you life begins at conception. I am legally responsible for the unborn, no matter what I do, so there’s a legal life there. The unborn has inheritance rights, and if there’s an injury or a killing, there is a legal entity. There is no doubt about it.

5. Pathos • Greek for “suffering” or “experience” • Appeals to emotions and values of the audience • Usually conveyed through narrative or story (hot topics: children, animals, the elderly, the disadvantaged) • Often used to incite an audience to take a specific course of action • Responsible use: add a sense of life and urgency to an argument well-founded in reason

6. Logos • Greek for “word” • Focus on argument itself, not the person making it • Evidence (statistics, pictures, sources) • Foundation on which other appeals must rest • Appeals to the rational mind = the most objective of the three modes • Ethos and Pathos should only be supplements to an argument

7. Martin Luther’s “Ninety-Five Theses” • Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said “Poenitentiamagite,” willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance. • This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests. • Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work diverse mortifications of the flesh. • The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

8. Martin Luther • How does his emphasis on logic show an awareness of audience and purpose? • How might he change if speaking before the Pope?

9. Luther’s speech before a Roman Catholic Assembly “Most serene emperor, and your illustrious princes and gracious lords—I this day appear before you in all humility, according to your command, and I implore your majesty and your august highnesses, by the mercies of God, to listen with favor to the defense of a cause which I am well assured is just and right. I ask pardon, if by reason of my ignorance, I am wanting in the manners that befit a court; for I have not been brought up in a king’s palaces, but in the seclusion of a cloister.”

10. Summary Closing thought: A good argument will use an effective combination of all three appeals. As a reader and viewer, pay close attention to how people are trying to persuade you.