Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Fallacies of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

One fallacy that is very prevalent in today's politics is the fallacy of ethos, known as Ad Hominem. This fallacy is used to describe a personal attack that has nothing to do with the argument on hand. I think one very obvious example of this fallacy is within Mitt Romney's campaign, specifically because he is a Mormon. Here is one example of an article that displays this fallacy: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2011-12-28/romney-mormon-christian/52257162/1. The issue is about the difficulty of Romney winning votes in states that have a high percentage of Evangelicals. Now why is this an issue, exactly? Looking at the arguments and issues at hand, faith has very little, if anything at all, to deal with them. The fallacy comes in when the prejudice against Mormons, held by the Evangelicals, begins to affect voting. Though Mitt Romney's faith has nothing to do with the issues at hand, attacks on this aspect of Romney are still very prevalent.

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos from King Henry V

These examples were found from King Henry V's speech. First is Ethos. One example comes from these lines:

"If we are mark'd to die, we are enow

To do our country loss; and to live,

The fewer men, the greater share of honour.

God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more."

The ethos is slightly difficult to see, but it is there, I assure you. To me, these lines display credibility. Ethos is used when recognizing the opposing viewpoint. Here, King Henry V is recognizing the opposing viewpoint by saying "if we die, then we die and lose this battle." He's not saying that they will win just yet, but he's recognizing that they could die. This makes him sound more credible to me.

I also believe this displays powerful Logos. Logos is logic, and logically, the less people who fought, the more honor each man will receive in turn,

The second Ethos comes from these lines:

"By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,

Nor care i who doth feed upon my cost;

It earns me not if men my garments wear;

Such outwear things dwell not in my desires."

Here, Henry is making himself more credible by telling his audience that he isn't battling for riches. He does not desire to make himself more wealthy. He's battling for different reasons.

The first Pathos comes from these lines:

"That he which hath no stomach to this fight,

Let him depart; his passport shall be made,

And crowns for convoy put into his purse."

This is powerful Pathos because he is letting his audience know that they need not fight if they cannot handle it. They will be allowed to leave if he so desires to. It's almost as if Henry is calling those who do leave not manly at all, and no man wants to be called a wimp, emotionally speaking.

The second Pathos is from here:

"But we in it shall be remembered-

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his bloom with me

Shall be my brother;"

This is great pathos because it is relating to the audience's emotional connection of brotherhood. Henry is stating that anyone who fights together today shall be so close to one another, that they shall all be linked together as brothers, even unto death. This displays a powerful connection of affection and brotherhood for all of Henry's comrades there with him.

The first Logos is stated above

The second Logos is found in these lines:

"Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,

But he'll remember, with advantages,

What feats he did that day."

Logos is logic. And this is logic because it tells quite accurately of what men will do when they're older on St. Crispian's Day. They will be able to recall what they did for their country, and he will be proud of it.

And this concludes my blog...

Have a great day!