Comments on: Classical Rhetoric 101: The Three Means of Persuasion

By: sean

sean — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 02:54:11 +0000

What a great article with some really clear and relevant points. Rhetoric is making a comeback!

By: Jasanna

Jasanna — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:30:57 +0000

I love that you are bringing this back. More people need to learn rhetoric, including myself!! It can help you in everyday circumstances as well as in professional ones. As a homeschooler, growing up, we had to take a logic class. That was a ridiculously difficult class, but one that helped me to see fallacies in my own reasoning!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Soliloquyshoppe

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 20:22:56 +0000

Absolutely fantastic article Brett and Kay, just when I think I’ve seen the best article I’ll ever see on this site I see another one that tops it.

I would like to submit one comment towards the gentlemen calling himself ‘Deuce’ who posted on December 23rd:

You obviously love your country and want the best for this world, and I truly respect that… but please stop quoting Glen Beck or whatever paranoid conspriacy theorist that has brain-washed you. I’m a little surprised your post did not include the phrase ‘liberal media.’

I certainly do not want to turn this forum into a left-vs-right political argument, but for the record, I am a moderate who proudly voted for our current President. I voted for him because of the Logos in his speeches, not the Ethos or Pathos in them. I followed the last presidential race very closely, and was shocked to hear so much sound reason and logic in the words of the man that is now our President. This was a nice change from the 8 years prior, in which we had to listen to a Command in Chief who could barely manage Ethos or Pathos, and had almost no Logos in anything he said.

By: Frank

Frank — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 13:52:20 +0000

Incidentally, it’s not irrational for doctors to smoke or be overweight. It may be foolish to smoke or eat poorly, but poor health habits do not exhibit logical contradictions or fallacies, precisely because external behavior is not the property of an argument.

By: Frank

Frank — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 13:24:49 +0000

The problem with pathos is that the truth-value of a proposition has nothing to do with emotion. It’s quite true that people are often hoodwinked by an appeal to emotion, but being persuaded by emotion is simply a result of sloppy thinking. Frankly, such arguments are manipulative insofar as they have little regard for conveying truth and are more concerned with “winning” the audience. I’m not suggesting we’re not all susceptible to an appeal to emotion at one time or another (since we are not, after all, Vulcans), but those who advocate the use of pathos are a bit hypocritical insofar as they would, on the one hand, encourage its use for rhetorical purposes, and then, on the other hand, and in contradictory manner, warn others of falling for such a fallacy. Well, which is it? If we’re to be clear thinkers and avoid falling for such manipulative devices, why is it ethical to manipulate others with emotional arguments?

By: Leo

Leo — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 11:49:48 +0000

Firstly, let me compliment on the article.

In modern times, another tool for persuasion has been added: mythos. Along with authority (ethos), logos (logic) and pathos (emotions), knowing your audience well and how your point integrates with their cultural, moral and value systems adds the ultimate tool for persuasion. Writing narratives that are culturally applicable will make your points effective.

By: Bob Stuart

Bob Stuart — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 05:23:00 +0000

Thanks – Nice article, and dealing with questions I’d chewed on alone before.
My own discovery in the art of persuasion concerns how to hand out handbills on the street. Too often, I found, a bunch of pedestrians, released by a traffic light, would all either accept or refuse a leaflet, based on whether the first person took one. So, whenever a leaflet is refused, I return it to the bottom of the stack, and deal off a fresh one to the next person. Often, the remaining bunch will then accept them too. The switch sometimes has to be done almost magician-fast, but that one trick moves 50% more leaflets. People will even queue up a bit and wait a second or so if everybody ahead of them is getting a leaflet.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 11:08:37 +0000

A quick comment to thank the authors and AoM for this series. Really, really enjoying it, and certainly appreciate your efforts. Look forward to the next instalment.

By: Erik

Erik — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 22:18:13 +0000

This article on rhetoric has been one of my favorite on your site so far, keep up the good work!

By: Slavi

Slavi — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 09:59:03 +0000

I’ve found the following to be a good book on fallacies (and decision-making in general). It covers a bit of many things (basics of negotiations, fallacies, bounded ethicality, etc.):

http://www.amazon.com/Judgment-Managerial-Decision-Making-Bazerman/dp/0470049456/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276955288&sr=8-1