Aristotle’s Ideas on Rhetoric

1. Aristotle’s Ideas on Rhetoric Logos, Pathos, and Ethos

2. Aristotle • Greek philosopher • Lived 384-322 B. C. • Expressed (among many other ideas) a theory on “rhetoric”

3. Aristotle’s Definition of “Rhetoric” Rhetoric: The art of discovering all the available means of persuasion *Notice the positive connotations of the term in Aristotle’s theory vs. the negative connotations often associated with the term “rhetoric” nowadays.

4. The Rhetorician as Artist • According to Aristotle, certain types of arguments were non-artistic. By this, he meant that the speaker did not have to discover or invent them. Such “non-artistic” proofs included witnesses, oaths, or torture. In Aristotle’s view, these proofs fell outside the art of rhetoric. • However, other types of arguments were artistic, meaning that the rhetorician had to use his wits and creativity to discover these means of persuading the audience.

5. Aristotle’s Rhetoric

6. Logos • Logos are appeals to logic. • In using logos, the rhetorician appeals to the audience’s rational side. • Logos involves building arguments through evidence, inferring logical conclusions from the evidence.

7. Human Beings Not Driven Solely by Logic • Aristotle was a firm believer in logic. • However, he was enough of a realist to recognize that humans are emotional beings who make decisions based, in part, upon emotion. • Thus, Aristotle acknowledged that a rhetorician would be neglecting some of the “available means of persuasion” if the rhetorician did not also appeal to the audience’s emotion.

8. Pathos • Pathos are appeals to emotion • With pathetic appeals, the rhetorician attempts to move the audience by tapping into their emotional side. • Often, pathos involves appealing to the audience’s sense of empathy, compassion, sympathy, pride or even anger or outrage.

9. Ethos • Ethos are arguments or statements made by the rhetorician that are designed to build his or her credibility with the audience • With ethical appeals, the rhetorician “ingratiates himself with an audience--and thereby gains their trust and admiration--if he manages to create the impression that he is a person of intelligence, benevolence, and probity” (Corbett and Connors, authors of Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student).

10. Awareness of Audience • If rhetoric is defined as the art of discovering all the available means of persuasion, it would stand to reason that a rhetorician would need to have a keen sense of who his audience is and what “makes them tick.” • A skilled rhetorician would recognize that he should tailor his appeals to fit his specific audience. (i.e. How do I need to build my credibility with this particular audience? Which emotions do I need to stir in this particular audience?) ?