Aristotle’s Ideas About Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

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Aristotle’s Ideas About Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

In 350 BC, Aristotle coined the three rhetorical appeals; pathos, ethos, and logos. He argued that pathos, ethos, and logos are the three significant ways to establish a persuasive appeal (Ting, 2018). Hence, the three rhetorical appeals are at the communication’s heart. Aristotle referred to rhetoric as the ability in every specific case to view the available persuasion means; that is, if one wants to become persuasive, they have to be tactful and tactical. Individuals have to look for an approach that works for their particular audience. Various ideas exist concerning Aristotle’s pathos, ethos, and logos and the way they advance public speaking art.

Ethos refers to the writer’s or speaker’s appeal to reputation and authority. They are an individual’s efforts to convince their audience about their character or credibility in public speaking. Hence, one has to ensure that the audience accepts them before convincing them to accept all that speaker says. When teaching a workshop, applying for a specific job, or giving a presentation, the audience must trust them so they can be persuaded. Therefore, ethos can be ensured by choosing appropriate vocabulary and language and making oneself look honest.

Appeals to emotions or pathos are the efforts to ensure one’s audience’s persuasion by developing an appeal to their particular feelings. A public speaker’s audience is highly receptive to getting more persuaded by an individual with whom they can identify. Pathos can be utilized to persuade an audience by the speaker; this requires making them feel a particular emotion (Isai et al., 2020). Expressive and straightforward language and emotional metaphors can promote pathos, advancing public speaking art.

Logos refer to efforts to convince one’s particular audience utilizing reason and logic. In advancing public speaking art, one has to document their point through literal analogies, facts, logical arguments, and storytelling. Thus, when a speaker is utilizing logos to persuade, they should have found information, stories, and facts that matter to the audience and are presentable to them in a sensible manner.

In conclusion, one should utilize the three rhetorical appeals to become an effective persuader. The three persuasion pillars advance public speaking art where ethos sets the speaker’s credibility, and logos argue and build points. Also, ethos ensures people act according to the emotions attributed by the speaker. Therefore, Aristotle’s ideas of the three rhetorical appeals should be utilized in advancing public speaking art.

References

Isai, K. I. A., Lin, T. M., Ching, H. S., Selvajothi, R., & Maruthai, E. (2020). Using rhetorical approach of ethos, pathos and logos by Malaysian engineering students in persuasive email writings. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 5(4), 19-33.

Ting, S. H. (2018). Ethos, Logos and Pathos in University Students’ Informal Requests. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 18(1).