On The Three Modes of Persuasion

Classical Rhetoric teaches us that there are three modes of persuasion which may be employed: Λόγος (Logos), Πάθος (Pathos), Ἦθος (Ethos).

Logos is the mode of persuasion that appeals to the intellect of its audience. A persuasive speech or essay that is logos heavy will rely largely on rational argumentation and be driven by data, syllogistic reasoning, and common sense argument. The right use of logos is to persuade minds about what is true.

Pathos is the mode of persuasion that appeals to the emotions of its audience. A persuasive speech or essay that is pathos heavy will rely largely on appeals to sympathy or anger or some other emotion. The right use of pathos is to make the audience feel as they ought about something.

Ethos is the mode of persuasion that appeals to the character of the speaker before his audience. A persuasive speech or essay that is Ethos heavy will rely largely on the reputation, gravitas, or charisma of the presenter. The right use of Ethos is to make the audience trust the virtuous man and his message.

Any attempt to persuade will involve all three modes to some degree, but very often attempts to persuade will lean more heavily one direction than another. Part of the job of a good rhetorician is determining, based upon his audience, which mode to press into on any given occasion. Certain topics may lend themselves toward a particular form of persuasion, but largely it is the audience that determines what approach will be necessary for the orator. One may recognize, for instance, that an attempt to give a talk on the discipline of logic would seemingly lend itself to logos naturally, and so it does, but if the specific setting for one’s presentation is before a group of homeschool mothers who are trying to decide whether this subject really needs to be a part of their children’s education then the wise rhetorician will add a heavy dose of pathos to his talk, connecting with the mother’s heart and her desire for her children to have the best education possible and how logic will help her child succeed in life. A pure exposition on how syllogisms work will not hit home as well as showing how logic will help little Tommy succeed in life and avoid being duped by predatorial arguments that could harm his wellbeing.

In Rhetoric, the ability to read one’s audience is paramount. It doesn’t matter if you are right if you cannot persuade. It doesn’t matter if you are a good person full of excellent knowledge if they don’t trust or like you. It doesn’t matter if they like you well enough, but they think you’re a sweet idiot. A successful orator will be able to wield all three modes of persuasion and he will be able to tailor any speech to any audience. The content of what one hopes to persuade about need not change based upon the setting, but the delivery must if one is to be successful.

Rhetoric is the art and science of persuasion and it is a powerful tool in the hands of men and women who know how to use it. What should be obvious is that these skills are pure potency and are neither, in themselves, good or bad but simply waiting to be put into the service of good or bad men. Quintilian, an ancient Roman orator and teacher of Rhetoric, famously acknowledged the potential for the misuse of rhetorical power when he wrote:

“The orator then, whom I am concerned to form, shall be the orator as defined by Marcus Cato, “a good man, skilled in speaking.” But above all he must possess the quality which Cato places first and which is in the very nature of things the greatest and most important, that is, he must be a good man. This is essential not merely on account of the fact that, if the powers of eloquence serve only to lend arms to crime, there can be nothing more pernicious than eloquence to public and private welfare alike, while I myself, who have laboured to the best of my ability to contribute something of value to oratory, shall have rendered the worst of services to mankind, if I forge these weapons not for a soldier, but for a robber.”1

This well made point is why it is of critical importance for teachers of Rhetoric to not simply teach methods and modes, but to inculcate a love for what is true, good, and beautiful. A good rhetor will not only refuse to lift a finger to persuade anyone into folly, but he will throw his whole person into the fight against it. A good rhetor desires truth for himself, wants to love and hate what he ought, is in pursuit of living the good life, and he wishes these things for his neighbor also. This is, fundamentally, the line of demarcation between a rhetor and a sophist. The former persuades for the Good, the latter persuades for Gain.

Some have criticized rhetoric itself because of the abuses to which it can be put, but rhetoric doesn’t abuse people, people abuse people. The most vulnerable among us are those who know nothing of rhetoric. As is a person who has no knowledge of a gun and what it is capable of doing to him, so is the person who knows nothing about persuasion and finds himself looking down the barrel of an unprincipled rhetor. The question is not whether there will be charlatans who abuse the power of rhetoric, the question is whether there will be good men to riposte their wickedness. We must not anathematize a tool because wicked men abuse it. A hammer can be used to brain someone or to build them a house.

The fact of the matter is that attempts to persuade us are all around us everyday. They are not just in academic lectures and journals, they are in the novels we read, they are in the news reports we watch, they are in casual conversations we have, they are in the movies and television shows we enjoy, they are certainly in the constant bombardment of advertisements everywhere we go. You can either become attuned to the tools of rhetoric or you can become a victim to them. You can either allow your neighbors to sit helplessly under the bombardment of rogues and scoundrels or you can join the ranks of the “good men, skilled in speaking’ and be a voice of truth in our culture that helps others to see the world as it really is.

When you know the tools then you know what to look for in any speech, in any essay, or in any dialogue. You can be aware when your heart strings are being pulled and you can ask yourself whether what you are being made to feel is in accord with reason and truth. You can see when men are all sparkle and pizzazz, or full of impressive bravado, but completely lacking in real character or argument. When you know how the game is played, you can pull back the layers of the onion and look at the core of the thing itself. When the core is good, and the modes of persuasion are being justly used, then rhetoric helps people to come to a right belief, gain just sentiments, and to place their confidence in good people. When the core is bad, and the modes of persuasion are being used unjustly, then rhetoric helps deceive people into believing what is false, it implants feelings in their chest that do not accord with the Good, and it turns them into slaves of tyrants.

If you are a lover of truth and justice who does not like to be deceived and who does not want to stand idly by while wicked men hold sway over the hearts and minds of your neighbors, study rhetoric.