Aristotle’s theory of three appeals

Abstract：The Greek philosopher Aristotle （1954） was the philosopher who first discussed rhetoric in detail. Much of what he said is still useful today. When Aristotle wrote his Rhetoric in the 4th century BC， he began a process of codifying the possible ways that speakers or writers could persuade their audiences. He believed that there were three means in which persuasion could be accomplished in public address： ethos， pathos， and logos.

Key words：persuasion；Aristotle；ethos；pathos；logos

1. The Appeal of Character——Ethos

In modern rhetoric， ethos refers to the moral qualities of the speaker， used to guarantee or raise the speakers credibility and acceptability in the eyes of the audience. Aristotle believed that ethical appeal stemmed from the character of the speaker， especially as that character was evinced in the speech itself. He said that if we believed that a speaker had good sense， good moral character， and goodwill， we were inclined to believe what the speaker said to us. Aristotle recognized two kinds of ethos — invented and situated. Invented ethos develops in the discourse by the tone and attitude the speaker takes toward his audience and subject. If a speaker appears unbiased， even-handed， and fair， the audience is more inclined to listen to the speaker's argument and to consider the speaker to be honest and forthright. However， the speaker probably has some pre-existing reputation， and that too can be used to establish credibility with the audience. This is the so-called situated ethos. One tends to listen to the “experts" when seeking information about a subject. “It is extremely important whether or not the audiences feel that they can trust the speaker. If there is no initial trust， then the audiences will not take in what the speaker has spoken.”（Burke， 1950） Of the three ways of persuasion， the ethical appeal could be the most potent. “All of an orators skill in convincing the intellect and moving the will of an audience would prove futile if the audience did not esteem or trust the speaker.”（Weaver， 1988）

2. The Appeal to Emotion—Pathos

Pathos is related to the words “pathetic，” “sympathy，” and “empathy”. Whenever you accept a claim based on how it makes you feel without fully analyzing the rationale behind the claim， you are acting on pathos. “The more people react without full consideration for the WHY， the more effective an argument can be.”（Aristotle， 1954） Aristotle argued that a person， though by nature a rational animal， was often prompted to do something or accept something by his or her emotions. According to Aristotle， the effects of emotional appeal include moral anger， ambition， excitement， fear， happiness， pity， jealousy as well as other feelings. Emotive persuasion is all around us. It is the essence of advertising， public speaking， and political image-making. Effective appeals to the audiences emotions depend upon the skillful， and often witty， handling of language. “The use of vivid and concrete words， evocative descriptions， emotional details and figurative language is the usual way to attain pathos.”（胡曙中，2002）

3. The Appeal to Reason——Logos

The Greek word “logos” is the basis for the English word logic. Logos is the logical proof or reasoning of a topic. It is associated with logic， reason and rationality. “Without logic， reason， or rationality in a speech， the speaker will definitely lose his audience. The listener must be able to understand the flow of the speakers thoughts and find that this flow makes logical， compelling sense.”（Howell， 1956） In exercising rational appeal， the speaker is appealing to the audiences reasoning or understanding. In other words， he is arguing. When he is arguing， he has to resort to the logical reasoning. Effective logical reasoning comes from sound logical thinking which is expressed in proper organization， coherent sentences， and words that appropriately convey ones intended meanings. “There are two basic approaches people often use for logical reasoning： deduction and induction. Deduction is the process of drawing a conclusion from propositions known to be true， whereas induction refers to the opposite process—making generalizations after observing a number of analogous facts.”（张秀国，2005：23）

The three elements of logos， ethos， and pathos are the crucial requirements for successful persuasion. Speakers must consider all three means of persuasion if they want to convince the audiences. The three elements are the three legs of the persuasion table. If all legs are solidly planted， the table will stand properly and effective persuasion will result. But if the legs are poorly set or imbalanced， all will come crashing down and so will your communication.

【Reference】

[1] Aristotle. Rhetoric[M]. New York： The Modern Library， Random House， 1954.

[2] Howell， Wilbur Samuel. Logic and Rhetoric in England[M]. Princeton， N.J.， 1956.

[3] Weaver， R. M. The Ethics of Rhetoric[M]. Oxford： Clarendon Press， 1988.

[4] 胡曙中. 英語修辞学[M]. 上海： 上海外语教育出版社， 2002.

[5] 张秀国. English Rhetoric[M]. 北京：清华大学出版社， 北京交通大学出版社， 2005，5.

【作者简介】

严爽（1988—），女，汉族，湖北黄冈人，英语语言文学硕士，南昌工学院讲师，研究方向：二语习得。