Logos, Pathos, Ethos

"Among Aristotle's contributions in [rhetoric] was a theory of persuasion, which famously contained the idea that there are three modes by which a speaker may persuade an audience. Paraphrasing very loosely, Aristotle's idea was that we can be persuaded, first of all, by a speaker's personal attributes, including such things as his or her background, reputation, accomplishments, expertise, and similar things. Aristotle referred to this mode of persuasion as ethos. Second, a speaker can persuade us by connecting with us on a personal level, and by arousing and appealing to our emotions by a skillful use of rhetoric. This mode of persuasion Aristotle termed pathos. And third, the speaker may persuade us by using information and arguments—what he called logos. Unfortunately, logos—rational argumentation—is one of the least effective ways of winning someone to your point of view. . . . People notoriously are unfazed by good arguments while finding even the worst arguments compelling."

-Critical Thinking, 10th ed. Brooke Moore & Richard Parker, 48-49