I say that Pathos is the strongest of the three tools. Even though the other two are still effective they are not as resourceful. The strongest rhetors are trying to persuade the audience over the direct opponent they are going against. If you win the people, you will most likely win the argument. But, the big problem with aiming your rhetoric towards the people, they might not be as educated on the subject. So the use of logos might show the fact to audience but it does not ensure that the fact won't just go over their heads. With Ethos, argument by character, can also be effective but if the people do not like the speaker the odds are that they wont change their views and possibly rendering the rhetor as useless. But if the rhetor uses the tool of pathos and reaches to the heart of the audience. The emotional tie of the audience member to the point that you are trying to persuade will be enough to make them side with you. Even though you lack the actual evidence to the argument, the audience will let their emotions lead them to your side of the argument. In my opinion if you win the hearts of the audience you will win the argument.
Pathos is a very strong tool and will work to your advantage. However I do not believe that one tool is stronger than the rest. Each has their importance for a specific reason. When you say the other two are not as resourceful I completely disagree, the other two rely on belief and logic. You have to trust the person through ethos because it depends on their character and logos is very reliable because it is specific fact and testimony.
ReplyDeleteagree that pathos is one of the stronger appeals. When you look at an article to see what appeals there are in it, pathos is normally there. I like how yo included that all three can help each other out because if you have pathos you are most likely going have either logos, or ethos there to backit up.
ReplyDeletePathos is important because you want to connect with your audience. But, logos will give assurance that what you are saying is true. Just pathos may give the audience a vibe that the speaker is only telling them what they want to ear. Personal stories and testimonies are one of the most effective techniques in my opinion. This is pathos, but also it is told by someone explaining truth of what has happened to them. Which allows you to connect!
ReplyDeleteI would argue that Ethos and its use of ethics is in fact the strongest and most effective of the three, this is because if you look at the main forces driving todays elections it boils down to two or three main arguments including abortion and gun rights, and both of those arguments boil down to the fact that if you can appeal to the ethics of both of those arguments you will gain the vote from that person. If you can make someone who believes abortion is wrong and you are able to show them how ethically that is not true you will have persuaded them.
ReplyDeleteI would probably have to agree that people let the emotions of them get the best of them, its just how people work. I think different types of rhetoric works on different people more than others just because of how people work. But in a big group setting i think pathos would be the most efficient while more one on one ethos or logos would work better.
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