Ethos, Pathos, Logos
Ethos
• how the author presents himself or
herself. In other words, what are the
author's qualifications for making this
argument?
Is he humble, sarcastic, arrogant,
scientific, etc. We make judgments all
the time about people's ethos.
Think about going into your doctor's
office and seeing a medical degree
from Harvard versus seeing a
degree from a no-name town
university.
What is the difference?
The same is true about an author
of a piece of writing. The clues are
more subtle but they are there if
you look for them.
Pathos
• is more about the audience..
How is the audience (of which you
are a part) being manipulated?
If the writing is a story, and the
story is very sad and you are
sitting at home crying while you
read it, are you going to be
more sympathetic to the
argument that is being made?
Commercials such as those put out by MADD or
SADD are heartwrenching when they show
pictures or talk about children who were killed by
drunk drivers.
Does the emotion make you more
sympathetic?
Of course. You can still believe the
argument is valid, but it is
important to realize that your
emotions are being manipulated.
Other areas where this happens is during very patriotic
speeches in which you can almost imagine hearing the
national anthem playing in the background
.
The argument may or may not be
valid, but you are being
manipulated by your emotions. Be
suspicious of these arguments in
general because our emotions are
funny things; they can turn our
heads away from a very illogical
argument
If you can imagine music being played in the background when you
are reading or listening to a speech, pathos is probably involved.
Logos
• does not mean logic.
Instead, it means where the
author and audience members
meet. Where is the common
ground between the two?
Both sides of a discussion must
have common ground on which
they can build in order to have a
discussion.
Major issues, such as abortion
or capital punishment, are
problematic issues to discuss
because neither side can find
any common ground with the
other side.
Therefore, no discussion can take place.
There has to be common ground to build on
in order to have a discussion and find
resolution. These issues will never be
resolved between the two binaries because
no common ground exists between absolute
black and white issues.
George W.’s 13 sentence speech
• George W. Bush has become notorious for being
a poor orator. Many critics of Bush have bashed
him for his verbal mistakes and for his choice of
wording (He was even criticized for not speaking
to the nation soon enough after the terrorist
attacks on September 11. However, on
September 14, he gave one of the best
speeches of his life. He spoke only thirteen
sentences and did so in only three minutes.
On September 14, Bush took a short helicopter
tour of the devastated New York area and then
walked between the piles of rubble. He talked with
volunteers, firefighters, and police officers. Hearing
chants of "USA! USA!" from the workers, Bush
took hold of a bullhorn, climbed to the top of a
small pile of rubble, and put his arm around a fire
fighter. Here is a transcript of what happened:
CROWD: U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you
all. I want you all to know --
THE PRESIDENT: I can't talk any louder.
(Laughter.) I want you all to know that
America today -- that America today is on
bended knee in prayer for the people whose
lives were lost here, for the workers who
work here, for the families who mourn. This
nation stands with the good people of New
York City, and New Jersey and Connecticut,
as we mourn the loss of thousands of our
citizens.
Q: I can't hear you.
THE PRESIDENT: I can hear
you. (Applause.) I can hear you.
The rest of the world hears you.
(Applause.) And the people who
knocked these buildings down
will hear all of us soon.
(Applause.)
CROWD: U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
THE PRESIDENT: The nation sends its
love and compassion to everybody who
is here. Thank you for your hard work.
Thank you for making the nation proud.
And may God bless America.
(Applause.)
CROWD: U.S.A.! U.S.A.! (The
President waves small American flag.)
(Applause.)
Analysis
Applying Aristotle's proofs to this
situation you can (1) clarify their
definitions, (2) expose their
utility, and (3) draw insight to
Bush's speech.
Ethos refers to "the study of human character" and
"the persuasive potential of the speaker's
character and personal credibility" According to
Aristotle, this proof was potentially the most
persuasive, although, logos or logic may be
considered most important today. When one's
character is seen as positive, we especially trust or
have confidence in the person trying to persuade
us When the speaker is seen as trustworthy,
knowledgeable, and interested in the audience, the
audience will likely accept what the speaker says
as true.
Bush's display of ethos during this
speech was ubiquitous. Being a
president that is willing to come to
the heart of the tragedy that had
just occurred, automatically lifted
his character to that of a person
who is caring, compassionate, and
interested. His sense of eunoia or
goodwill was seen throughout his
speech.
Bush's slight nonverbal actions also
bolstered his sense of character. Throughout
most of his speech, he kept his arm
wrapped around a lead firefighter working at
the scene. The two men, standing in front of
onlookers and millions of Americans
watching television, looked as if they were
good friends, glancing and nodding at one
another. Interestingly, Bush's three minute
speech was completely audience centered,
which has been known to affect ethos
In all, his character and personhood came
across as that of a conscientious, concerned
person. His character shinned when he
eloquently stated, "And the people who
knocked these buildings down will hear all of
us soon." Bush was persuading the workers
and the nation that our country is in safe
hands and that we will find whoever did
these terrible acts.
Pathos
Pathos refers to the study of human
emotion, emotional appeals, and the act of
"putting the audience in the right frame of
mind" This emotional side of the speech
usually influences our beliefs and has the
potential to influence our actions. According
to Aristotle, pathos is evident when the
audience is "roused to emotion by speech"
The issues of morality also come into play.
Aristotle felt that there is a moral imperative
for correct judgment
Before Bush even spoke a word, emotions were at
large. The crowd was chanting, "USA! USA!" A feel
of patriotism and pride mixed with an odd sense of
defeat and disgust surrounded the area and
nation. When a man shouted that he could not
hear Bush speak, and Bush replied, "I can't talk
any louder," the crowd laughed, putting them in a
state of emotional happiness. When Bush thanked
the workers for their treacherous labor, a sense of
pride and heroism was felt.
Within pathos, Aristotle makes a
distinction between fear appeals
and pity appeals. He classifies
fear appeals as the fear of
physical harm or death, fear of
loss, or deprivation of freedom
"And the people who knocked
down these buildings will hear all of
us soon," he was not creating fear
in American lives, but he was
appealing to the fears of whoever
knocked down the buildings. In
addition, he used this fear appeal
(aimed at the opposers) to
motivate, inspire, and persuade
Americans that we will retaliate.
Aristotle also classified pity
appeals, which suggest or state
"that someone or something
helpless is being harmed"
Bush's numerous statements, such as, "The
nation sends its love and compassion to
everybody who is here", bring out emotions
of pity and sympathy, placing America as the
"helpless and harmed." In addition, the war
torn environment in which the speech took
place added to the emotional situation.
Pathos was probably more influential than
any of the other proofs in this speech.
Logos
Logos has numerous definitions,
but usually refers to the words
used, logical content or reasoning,
or thought expressed in words
Logos also means logical sense
and may suggest intellect or
rationality. It is also the study of
"the arguments typical of the
reasoning employed in practical
decision making"
The concept of logos in Bush's speech may
be the hardest of the proofs to understand at
first sight when looking at the speech.
Looking at specific word use, Bush used an
immense amount of religious jargon.
Phrases such as, "On bended knee in
prayer" and "May God bless America,"
appealed to both emotions (pathos) and to
ways of thought (logos) and religion.
Logos took place on another level as well.
There was an argument that the country is
united, still alive, and ready to 'be heard.'
When Bush commented that "The nation
stands with the good people of New York
City, and New Jersey and Connecticut," he
used logic to create an imaginary link of
unification between the people devastated
around the county. On another side, he also
made a subtle argument by his threat to
those who highjacked the planes and
created such massive destruction
Bush did not just use logos, pathos, or ethos
alone. He used them in unison. He used
them to create a wholesome speech that
was successful. Pathos was used expertly:
the audience's feelings, needs, and
emotions connected with the speech. Logos,
or logical sense was displayed to the
listeners throughout the nation. Ethos, or
character and credibility, was also eloquently
displayed by Bush.
Aristotle's artistic proofs are thousands of
years old, however, they still have practical
uses. They (1) allow the audience to
understand public speeches at a greater
depth and (2) allow the speaker to shape
and mold her or his speech to one of
success. In addition, according to Aristotle,
they define the study of rhetoric. I find
Aristotle's artistic proofs to be one of the
most useful contributions to the study of
rhetoric