Ethos, logos, and pathos

Three best friends who love to argue have come to a public square in ancient Athens. One is a really reliable person. She’s accomplished a lot of things. She’s a bit of an expert; she’s confident when she speaks because she knows what she’s talking about. Her name is Ethos.

She can always prove that she’s smart and trustworthy. And this guy is all about numbers and logic. I guess you could say he’s a bit of a nerd. Every time you try to argue with him, he pulls out charts and data. He only knows the facts.

His name is Logos. And then, over there, is a really emotional guy. He’s passionate about everything: always laughing or crying or sharing his big imagination. This is Pathos. He doesn’t care about numbers like Logos; he just cares about how people feel.

He loves to tell heart-warming stories and funny jokes. These three friends are an unstoppable trio that can help you make a good argument. Ethos, logos, and pathos - the three rhetorical appeals - were first established by the famous Greek thinker Aristotle in the 4th Century BCE. These are three techniques to persuade others to believe a particular point of view. Ethos is about establishing your authority to speak on a subject and getting your audience to trust you.

Logos is your logical argument for your point, and pathos is your attempt to influence an audience emotionally. These three techniques are all equally important, and they are the best friends of any argument you want to make. But... they are not only for arguing. When you need to write a speech, give any other sort of oral presentation, or advertise, you need to plan all three parts to make whatever it is you want to say credible and interesting.

You can probably think of a lot of examples of this. Let's have a look at three advertisements... “The new BinogiPhone, now with a 75% faster operating system”... A picture of a sad puppy with the phrase “donate now” under it... “Dentists from the International Royal Dentist Association recommend Super Smile toothpaste.” Can you identify which is the example of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos? A 75% faster operating system makes the new BinogiPhone, logically, a better phone. That is an appeal to logos.

When you see an animal that looks sad, it makes you feel sad. That appeal to pathos can motivate people to donate in order to avoid unhappy feelings. And you trust a dentist to know about teeth and toothpaste. That’s ethos at work. Ethos, logos, and pathos!

Their different approaches won’t always work for every argument. Ethos sometimes relies too much on being an expert. She thinks: “People trust me, so they’ll agree with me no matter what.” Logos’ approach can be too dry, and boring. Some people don’t understand his graphs or what they mean. Meanwhile, Pathos can be a bit too emotional.

He gets carried away and doesn’t always think things through, logically. He’s totally led by how he feels and wants other people to feel. So instead of focusing too much on one technique - like using only ethos to make an argument - try to use a bit of each approach, and see how they work together. Ethos, logos, and pathos. Remember, these three “friends” are also your friend when you want to make a convincing argument!