Freethought & Rationalism Archive

mountainman · 09-22-2009, 05:00 AM

Aristotle's Three Modes of Persuasion in Rhetoric
are Ethos, Pathos and Logos

ETHOS

Quote:

Ethos (pronounced /ˈiːθɒs/) (ἦθος, ἔθος, plurals: ethe (ἤθη), ethea (ἤθεα)) is a Greek word originally meaning "accustomed place" (as in ἤθεα ἵππων "the habitat of horses", Il. 6.511), "custom, habit", equivalent to Latin mores.

Ethos forms the root of ethikos (ἠθικός), meaning "moral, showing moral character". To the Greeks ancient and modern, the meaning is simply "the state of being", the inner source, the soul, the mind, and the original essence, that shapes and forms a person or animal[1]. Late Latin borrowed it as ethicus, the feminine of which (ethica, for ἠθική φιλοσοφία "moral philosophy") is the origin of the modern English word ethics.

PATHOS

Quote:

Pathos (pronounced /ˈpeɪθɒs/; Greek: πάθος) is one of the three modes of persuasion in rhetoric (along with ethos and logos). Pathos appeals to the audience's emotions. It is a part of Aristotle's philosophies in rhetoric. It is not to be confused with 'bathos' (βάθος), which is an attempt to perform in a serious, dramatic fashion that fails and ends up becoming comedy.

Pathetic events in a plot are also not to be confused with tragic events. In a tragedy, the character brings about his or her own demise, whereas those invoking pathos often occur to innocent characters, invoking unmerited grief.

Emotional appeal can be accomplished in a multitude of ways:

by a metaphor or story telling, common as a hook,
by a general passion in the delivery and an overall number of emotional items in the text of the speech, or in writing.

LOGOS

Quote:

Logos (pronounced /ˈloʊɡɒs/ or /ˈlɒgɒs/; Greek λόγος logos) is an important term in philosophy, analytical psychology, rhetoric and religion.

Heraclitus (ca. 535–475 BCE) established the term in Western philosophy as meaning both the source and fundamental order of the cosmos. The sophists used the term to mean discourse, and Aristotle applied the term to rational discourse. The Stoic philosophers identified the term with the divine animating principle pervading the universe. After Judaism came under Hellenistic influence, Philo adopted the term into Jewish philosophy

Aristotle's Three Modes of Persuasion in Rhetoric = Ethos, Pathos and Logos

Persuasion is clearly a sort of demonstration,
since we are most fully persuaded when we
consider a thing to have been demonstrated
Of the modes of persuasion furnished
by the spoken word there are three kinds. [...]

Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character
when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible. [...]

Secondly, persuasion may come through the hearers,
when the speech stirs their emotions. [...]

Thirdly, persuasion is effected through the speech itself
when we have proved a truth or an apparent truth by means
of the persuasive arguments suitable to the case in question.

---- ARISTOTLE, "Rhetoric", 350 BCE

The mode of persuasion in the rhetoric of the New Testament canon

The mode of persuasion in the rhetoric of the New Testament canon is not ethos.
The mode of persuasion in the rhetoric of the New Testament canon is not logos.

The mode of persuasion in the rhetoric of the New Testament canon is pathos.

show_no_mercy · 09-22-2009, 09:02 AM

Maybe instead of Jesus being the logos made flesh, he's the pathos made flesh?

Clivedurdle · 09-23-2009, 08:24 AM

Isn't the word becoming flesh pathetic?

But back to the OP, has anyone asked about the argumentative methods being used and if actually that is the cause of the dark ages?

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09-22-2009, 09:02 AM	#2
show_no_mercy Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Dancing Posts: 9,940	Maybe instead of Jesus being the logos made flesh, he's the pathos made flesh?

09-23-2009, 08:24 AM	#3
Clivedurdle Contributor Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: London UK Posts: 16,024	Isn't the word becoming flesh pathetic? But back to the OP, has anyone asked about the argumentative methods being used and if actually that is the cause of the dark ages?

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