Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who lived in the 4th century, he is recognized as one of the great thinkers of all time along with Socrates and Plato. Aristotle discovered Rhetoric and believed that his concept of rhetoric is the faculty of discovery for all the available means of persuasion in any given situation (Corbett, 1990). The art of persuasive speaking and writing is a particular field that he was particularly interested in. Today the dictionary defines rhetoric as “the art of speaking or writing effectively” however Aristotle defined it as “the ability in each particular case to see the available means of persuasion”. In rhetoric, Aristotle recognized Ethos, Pathos and Logos as the three key elements of persuasion. …show more content…
Aristotle’s Ethos will always play an important factor in advertising, even in politics. For an example, we blindly would believe a pain reliever advertisement when it puts a person wearing a white doctor’s coat recommending it. The doctor’s coat gives the speaker the authority to speak about medicine. The white coat again acts as a deceptive illusion of character and authority for the audience to judge whether the speaker is credible.
Aristotle recognized how Ethos could have the most influential force of persuasion. He believed that the power to persuade an audience would be ineffective if the speaker is not a credible person (Corbett, 1990). Corbett (1990) also stated that ethos in persuasion will only be affective when a speaker who is a person of sound sense, high moral character and benevolence delivers a message that impresses the audience. However, ethos in persuasion may not be affective if the speaker’s reputation is failing (Corbett, …show more content…
According to Larson (2013) Logos is an appeal to logic and reason and act as a medium of persuading an audience by reason and facts. It is used to persuade an audience by logical thought, fact and rationality (Corbett, 1990). Corbett (1990) stated that Logos is an appeal to reason, which is one of humanity’s essential characteristics. Larson (2013) believed that the most effective persuaders provided the person they wanted to convince with facts and then guided them to the correct conclusion.
Logos is recognized by Aristotle as the most important between the three persuasion methods. However, according to Corbett (1990), Aristotle also acknowledged the relevance of Ethos and Pathos in achieving effective persuasion. As we live our lives in a modern society, the appeals of logic and reason in persuasion holds a much higher value over the appeals emotion of the audience or the image of the speaker (Corbett, 1990). As the audience, we tend to believe a speaker if they present us with factual evidence that backs up their argument. Even when at first we would doubt the truthfulness of the message but with the presence of evidence such as statistics we may be able to be