Aristotle’s Rhetoric: Pathos, Ethos And Logos

When we present our ideas, in writing or verbally, we tend to want to persuade others. Those who listen to us must understand our point of view and even accept our arguments. The rhetoric is precisely this, to induce others to adopt our point of view. And who better than Aristotle can explain to us what rhetoric is? The studies of Plato’s pupil concentrated, in fact, on this art. Aristotle’s rhetoric consists of three categories: pathos, ethos and logos.

Pathos, ethos and logos are the three fundamental pillars of Aristotle’s rhetoric . Today these three categories are considered three different ways to convince an audience about a topic, about a belief to adhere to or about a particular conclusion. While each category is unique, mastering all three helps engage the audience we’re targeting.

Rhetoric of Aristotle

Pathos

Pathos means “suffering and experience”. According to Aristotelian rhetoric, this concept translates into the ability of the speaker or writer to evoke emotions and feelings in the audience. The pathos is associated with emotion, seeks to empathize with the audience and appeals to the imagination of the latter.

Finally, the pathos aims to empathize with the audience. When pathos is leveraged, the speaker’s values, beliefs and understanding mix and are communicated to the recipients by means of a story.

The pathos is very used when the arguments to be exhibited are the subject of dispute. Since the topics covered are usually devoid of logic, their success lies in the speaker’s ability to be able to empathize with the audience.

For example, if the discussion is about the illegality of abortion, the speaker will use “vivid” words to describe newborns and the innocence of the new life, in order to evoke sadness and concern in the audience.

The ethos

The second category, ethos , means “character, behavior” and comes from the Greek word ethikos , which means morality and the ability to show one’s personality which is based on morality. For speakers and writers, the ‘ ethos is formed by the credibility and the similarity with the public.

The speaker must be trustworthy and must be respected as an expert on the subject matter. For arguments to be effective, it is not enough to make a logical reasoning. In order to become credible, the content must also be presented in a way that conveys trust.

According to Aristotle’s rhetoric, ethos is particularly important to stimulate the interest of the listener (or the reader). The tone and style of the message become the key to interest. Also, the character is affected by the speaker’s reputation, which depends on the message.

For example, speaking to the audience as a peer, rather than treating them as a passive character, increases the likelihood that people will feel an active part of the topics covered.

The logos

Logos means word, discourse or reason. In the art of persuasion, the logos is the logical reasoning that lies behind the speaker’s arguments. It refers to any attempt to appeal to the intellect, to logical arguments. In this sense, logical reasoning is of two types: deductive and inductive.

The deductive reasoning is “If A is true and B is true, the intersection between A and B must also be true.” For example, the argument made on the basis of the logos that “women like oranges” would be “women like fruit” and “oranges are fruit”.

Inductive reasoning also uses premises, but the conclusion is an expectation and will not necessarily be true due to its subjective nature. For example, the phrases “Piero likes comedy” and “this film is a comedy” reasonably suggest that “Piero will like this film”.

Aristotle’s rhetoric

The logos was the oratorical technique preferred by the greek philosopher. However, if we think about everyday life, everyday arguments depend mostly on pathos and ethos . The combination of the three essences of Aristotle’s rhetoric is used to make the evidence persuasive; moreover, they are central to the debate. People who master these techniques are able to convince others to take a certain action or to buy a certain product or service.

Of the three techniques, pathos seems to prevail today. Populist speeches, which aim to excite the public rather than make them think according to logic, seem to be the most popular. The same happens with fake news (or fake news ). Some lack logic altogether, but audiences accept them for their empathizing power. Being aware of these three strategies of Aristotelian rhetoric can help us to better identify the messages that aim at persuasion through deception.