Ethos, Pathos And Logos

Ethos, Pathos and Logos are persuasive appeals used to make the reader see things from the writer’s point of view. “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift and “Lifeboat Ethics” by Garrett Hardin are both widely known for their arguments regarding helping the poor. As great writers Swift and Hardin employ all three forms of appeals in their writings.

Logos is the idea of a logical argument. Throughout Swift’s essay he uses logos by making cannibalism sound logical. In paragraph fourteen he says , “I believe no gentleman would repine to give ten shilling for the carcass of a good fat child, which, as I have said will make four dishes of excellent nutritive meat. This argument sounds pretty logical, right? Children are nutritious and cheap, so why not eat them? The structure of Hardin’s essay appeals to the logos of his audience. He follows a clear progression which develops and validates his ideas concerning assistance for the poor. Through his logos structured argument his audience is able to clearly see his reasoning.

Pathos is the idea of using emotion to convince people. Humans use pathos on a daily basis, whether intentional or not. In paragraph 17 he states, “But as to myself, having been wearied out for many years with offering vain, idle, visionary thoughts, and at length utterly despairing of success, I

fortunately fell upon this proposal, which as it is wholly new, so it hath some solid and real, of no expense and little trouble, full in out own power, and whereby we can incur no danger in disobliging England.” His point here is to invoke sympathy for himself. As for Hardin he uses blunt diction. While arguing his points, Hardin uses emotionally intense words such as “suicidal” and “complete catastrophe” and other words that carry strong negative connotations. These words incite fear in the reader, leading them to believe that their very existence is in danger.
Ethos is the idea that a person should be listened to.

Swift encourages us to believe him because he is a worthy, virtuous person gave him the idea because “so great a number of both sexes in every country being now ready to starve, for want of work and service”, paragraph seventeen. However, Hardin uses a sense of ethos through his selection of statistical evidence. “In the years 1960 to 1970, U.S. taxpayers spent a total of $7.9 billion on the Food for Peace program. Between 1948 to 1970, they also paid an additional $50 billion for other economic-aid programs, some of which went for food and food-producing machinery and technology”, paragraph

sixteen.
Both arguments present all three forms of persuasive arguments throughout their essays. By employing all three forms both Swift and Hardin are able to appeal to the largest audience and make solid arguments.