6.3: Appeals to Reasoning

Audiences in today’s society are extremely diverse. Within any classroom, opinions range from the very liberal to the extremely conservative perspective. Each of these perspectives have intended audiences that you hope to address Appeals, if used correctly, can help you reach almost any audience. Three of the most common appeals found when reasoning with an audience is pathos (emotional), ethos (ethical/credible), and logos (logical).

Emotional Appeal (Pathos)

Emotional appeals, known as pathos, generates different types of emotions (love, fear, pity, anger, jealousy) that the writer hopes will lead the audience to accept their position. For example, in Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, “The Other America,” he spoke to an audience of students, faculty and administration at Stanford University,. Dr. King addresses the issues of race, poverty, and economic injustice. Given that this was an institution and there were so many different perspectives, Dr. King uses metaphorical language and pathos to present his claim to his audience. Let’s listen to the speech concerning Dr. King’s argument for nonviolence:

Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech

“The Other America”

https://youtu.be/QvwNcWscdXk

Ethical Appeal (Ethos)

When writers and speakers present their arguments and they come across as trustworthy, most audiences will be persuaded and accept their arguments because their trustworthiness usually comes with great respect and fairness. This is what is known as ethos or credibility. When individuals show that they know what they are talking about, they exude an ethical appeal. For example, if a writer is interested the sport of basketball, a credible authority could be a professional athlete such as Michael Jordan or Wardell Stephen Curry II. If a writer is interested in the coaching of basketball, credible authorities could be Steve Kerr or Phil Jackson, two coaches who hold strong and credible records for National Basketball Association Championships. Any of these public sports figures would be great examples of ethos because they hold expert and professional knowledge on the topic of basketball. If we wanted to talk to any one of them about business, they might be credible depending on their other endeavors in life, but the one that would be able to show ethos would be Michael Jordan because of his business acumen with his thriving Air Jordan sneaker line. While the others have thriving businesses, our first impulse would not be to go talk business with basketball professionals.

Michael Jordan

Logical Appeal (Logos)

Culture in the United States exhibits logical reason or logos in some prominent ways. Many audiences respond well when facts, statistics, credible testimony, strong evidence or even a cogent narrative are part of an argument. For example, the Pew Research organization has been conducting surveys on various issues. Since the June 2022 United States Supreme Court Roe v. Wade reverse decision on abortion, Pew Research has conducted various surveys around abortion. One such survey simply showed how the American citizens viewed the abortion after the United States ruling. One of the surveys uses statistics to show the views of Americans who think that abortion should be legal or illegal. In an article, entitled, "What the Data says about Abortion in the U.S.", the following statistics illustrate the use of logos: "62% of U.S. adults said the practice should be legal in all or most cases, while 36% said it should be illegal in all or most cases" (Diamant and Mohamed). What Pew Research found was that many people did not take an absolutist view. Americans believed in some cases, abortion could be allowed.

In Greek mythology, Kairos, the youngest son of Zeus, was the god of opportunity. He had an unusual characteristic that concerned the hair on his forehead. His story is as Kairos runs by you, you have an opportunity to grab a lock of his hair from his forehead, and it shocks you. Grabbing his hair is the equivalent of grabbing an opportune moment. As an appeal, Kairos is the term used to describe the most suitable time for an argument to be made. Often these arguments can be found in significant statements or moments in time. Kairos is often found in contexts of enormous social complexity. For example, during the 1950s and 60s, While controversial, Malcolm X became one of the influential leaders during the Civil Rights Era. His argument was that he wanted justice for African Americans and he was determined to get it “by any means necessary.” Listen to the speech that he gives on June 28,1964 during the founding rally for his organization, the Organization of Afro-American Unity:

Malcolm X “By Any Means Necessary”

June 28,1964, New York

https://youtu.be/K9hPa0cvqks

Lunsford, Andrea A., John J. Ruskiewicz and Keith Walters. Everything's an Argument with Readings 8th ed. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2019.

Diamant, Jeff and Besheer Mohamed. "What the Data Says about abortion in the U.S." Pew Research Center. www.pewresearch.org. 2023.