Ethos Pathos Logos

The question as to whether humans are emotional or rational beings when it comes to decision making has been widely studied and debated extensively throughout history. In today’s world emotion is usually associated with weakness and vulnerability. Rationality and logic are universal. Everyone uses the same logic (although some people use it more than others), but morality and feelings are unique and personal. They stem from our personality structure, values and are what make each one of us different from one another.We are cognisant that using our emotions to sway our decision making is wrong, and that we should strive to be more analytical and levelheaded; emotions tend to cloud our ability to make the proper choices nonetheless. The truth

is we should not have to self consciously choose between being emotional and being rational. Why can’t we use them both? Despite our belief that they are completely averse, they aid us most in decision making when used collectively.

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato believed that man’s soul was composed of three parts: reason, passion (akin to emotion) and the will. He famously described emotion and reason as two horses pulling us in opposite directions. Of these three, he believed that reason should dominate over passion and will, such that reason determined the path one should take. David Hume, on the other hand, presented the contradictory viewpoint that “Reason is, and ought to be, the slave of the passions and to try to do nothing other than to be at their services” Hume believed that emotions defined purpose and motivation in life and that rationality was merely a tool to use to meet the needs of the emotions. He further argued that reason alone was never enough to impel anyone to action, and that any impulse to act must come from our emotions.

In current news, the Millennial generation is dubbed as the “Me” generation. One particular challenge unique to Millennials is that they are highly motivated and high-achieving, and rely on their parents and other authority figures for direction and approval, transferring their loci of control to external forces. General Nick Carter told a conference in London that young people born in the 1980s and 1990s were overly concerned with “instant self-gratification” and “what’s in it for them” when they chose a career, leading them to reject the military option outright. The National Study of Youth and Religion found that Millennials are so convinced of their own greatness that 60% of them reported that their guiding morality would lead them to do what is right in any situation; they would just be able to feel what is right. This inflated sense of self-esteem and confidence came about in part during the 1970s when parents wanted to improve their children’s chances of succeeding by instilling a great sense self-esteem and providing them with plenty of participation medals and trophies. The issue arises when parents try to boost self-esteem, they inadvertently boost narcissism instead. Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University suggests that parents should, “Just tell your kids you love them. It's a better message.” In addition, Twenge states that “When they're little it seems cute to tell them they're special or a princess or a rock star or whatever their T-shirt says. When they're 14 it's no longer cute." All that self-esteem leads them to be disappointed when the world refuses to affirm how great they know they are. "This generation has the highest likelihood of having unmet expectations with respect to their careers and the lowest levels of satisfaction with their careers at the stage that they're at." To name them the generation of unmet expectations would be more fitting.

We believe that both emotion and logic are keys to constructing a compelling argument and trust Aristotle’s established three essential methods of artistic proof: ethos, pathos and logos. He specifies that in order to be convincing, one must exude respectable character, move the audience by appealing to the emotions, and present satisfying reasons. The word ethos loosely translates to the “image” the author is trying to paint. Aristotle used the term to refer to the speaker’s character as interpreted by the audience. The audience is more likely inclined to accept the speaker’s ideas as truth if a “good sense, good moral character, and goodwill,” is displayed by the author along with language that is suitable to the rhetorical situation. One ought to offer an earnest and impartial proposal of the facts. In doing so, the traits of reliability, competence, sensitivity and respect for the audience's ideas and values are demonstrated.

Pathos is the appeal to emotions.

Emotion is the energy and the very fuel of the persuasion process. You can inspire anyone by igniting positive or negative emotions such as hope, love, pride, gratitude or excitement. If you can capture these emotions within yourself, you can transfer them onto your audience. Although the pathetic appeal can be manipulative, it is the cornerstone of moving people to action. The more people react without full consideration of the why of an argument, the more effective that argument might be. Many arguments are able to persuade people logically, but the apathetic audience may not follow through on the call to action. Appeals to pathos touch a nerve and compel people to not only listen, but to also take the next step and act in the world. To appeal to the emotions of the audience and evoke an emotional response, the writer should try to create imagery by using vivid, concrete, and figurative

language.

Logos is the appeal to reason and refers primarily to any attempt to appeal to the intellect.

As a rhetorical appeal, logos is most often based on probabilities rather than certain truth, for we often cannot know a thing with absolute certainty, yet we must act anyway. To appeal to logic and evoke a cognitive, rational response, the writer often uses more theoretical or abstract language that includes literal or historical analogies, definitions, factual data and statistics, quotations and citations from experts and authorities, and informed opinions. Persuasion, to a large extent, involves convincing people to accept our assumptions as probably true. Similarly, exposing questionable assumptions in someone else's argument is an effective means for preparing the audience to accept your own contrary

position.

Depending on the situation, if a decision is needed to be made quickly, a rational decision is more likely to be made within the immediate duration of time. It is as if we take the first decision which appears in our minds and take action just to finalize the situation before thinking thoroughly of the consequences. With the belief that we are emotional beings, there are also a select few who feel no remorse or emotion for that matter. Even they must make decisions and may even make rational decisions when it threatens something they feel strongly about. Similarly to others, they would do what they can to prove against or for their belief. There is also a great difference in the personality types of people. There are those who put themselves last and make a decision to improve and benefit those around them and others who put themselves first to provide the greatest means of advantage for themselves. Decision making is different for each individual, however rationality and emotion must be weighed carefully to provide the greatest source of betterment to the idea being presented. If the notion is presented with an outweigh of rationality over emotion or vise versa, there is still a leveled decision as both ideas have been thought out to an extent. If only one is thought out, the decision loses a sense of rumination as it is more impulsive and does not typically define the best possible outcome for the decision that has been depicted.