AristotleKnowledge comes fromKnowledge comes from

experience.experience.

Aristotle: A Brief Biography

• 384-322 BCE384-322 BCE

• Born in Stagira, Greece in Born in Stagira, Greece in Thrace, near MacedoniaThrace, near Macedonia

• Son of Nickomacus, a Son of Nickomacus, a prominent physicianprominent physician

• Died in Euboea in 322 BCEDied in Euboea in 322 BCE

RhetoricRhetoric“the faculty of discovering in any particular case all

of the available means of persuasion”

The importance of rhetoric:

• If a judge’s decisions are not what they should be, the loss was caused by the speakers.

• Sometimes facts and knowledge are not good enough to make a decision. This is when the mode of persuasion comes into play.

• The ability to persuade provides clarity to facts and can prove a fallacious fact wrong.

RhetoricRhetoric

It is just as important to fight with words as it is with weapons.

The Power of the The Power of the RhetoricianRhetorician

The Speaker has:The Speaker has:

• the power of evincing a personal the power of evincing a personal character which will make his speech character which will make his speech credible credible ((ethosethos))

• the power of stirring the emotions of the power of stirring the emotions of his hearers his hearers ((pathospathos ) )

• the power of proving a truth, or an the power of proving a truth, or an apparent truth, by means of apparent truth, by means of persuasive arguments persuasive arguments ((logoslogos ) )

The Three The Three AppealsAppeals

• EthosEthos

• Pathos Pathos

• LogosLogos

Ethos:Ethos: creating an creating an effective personaeffective persona

• Ethos is the persuasive value associated Ethos is the persuasive value associated with the persona created in the text.with the persona created in the text.

Whose voice are we reading and what Whose voice are we reading and what can can

we infer about that voice from the text?we infer about that voice from the text?• Ethos is the credibility of the persona Ethos is the credibility of the persona

created. created. • Ethos appeals to the audience’s sense of Ethos appeals to the audience’s sense of

trust and familiaritytrust and familiarity..

Pathos:Pathos: appealing to your appealing to your reader’s values, beliefs, reader’s values, beliefs,

and emotionsand emotions

• The pathetic appeal is useful because you The pathetic appeal is useful because you engage your audience on a personal level. engage your audience on a personal level. This is This is often strongeroften stronger than the appeal to than the appeal to logic.logic.

• A pathetic appeal can go wrong, however, A pathetic appeal can go wrong, however, when the link to your argument isn’t clear.when the link to your argument isn’t clear.

Logos:Logos: stating the stating the factsfacts

• A logical appeal relies on factual evidence.A logical appeal relies on factual evidence.

• Logical appeals are strong because often the Logical appeals are strong because often the facts speak for themselves.facts speak for themselves.

• Also, logical appeals are seemingly objective: just Also, logical appeals are seemingly objective: just the facts ma’am.the facts ma’am.

• The weakness of the logical appeal used alone is The weakness of the logical appeal used alone is that that the audience gets no sense of the writer’s the audience gets no sense of the writer’s persona,persona, and and the cold hard facts don’t affect the the cold hard facts don’t affect the audience’s values directly.audience’s values directly.

Our MediaOur Media• What are some examples of ethos, What are some examples of ethos,

logos, and pathos that you have logos, and pathos that you have encountered recently in the media?encountered recently in the media?

• Which rhetorical mode of persuasion Which rhetorical mode of persuasion is most convincing?is most convincing?