ethos
What is Ethos? Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples
Ethos Definition
Ethos (EE-thohs) is the quality of rhetoric where a speaker or writer indicates their knowledge, trustworthiness, morality, and good character. Ethos enables a rhetorician to create trust in their audience and establish themselves as a credible authority with the depth and breadth of knowledge necessary to examine their subject matter.
A straightforward way to remember the meaning of ethos is to think of the word ethical, which shares its root. If someone is ethical or has strong ethics, they’re trustworthy and credible. A writer employs ethos to show readers the same thing.
The word ethos was first used in English in 1851 to indicate “the characteristic spirit of a time, place, and people.” It derives from the Greek ethos, meaning “habitual character and disposition; moral character; habit, custom; an accustomed place.”
Ethos as a Mode of Persuasion
In Rhetoric, the 4th-century treatise on the effective use of language, Aristotle cites ethos as one of the three primary tools of persuasion.
- Ethos relies upon the speaker or writer’s credibility and reputation. The audience is convinced by the rhetorician’s trustworthiness and breadth of knowledge.
- Logos utilizes logic and reason to sway an audience. Facts, data, and citations from credible experts are all aspects of logos.
- Pathos is an appeal to the audience’s emotions. Speakers and writers utilize it to establish emotional connections with their audience, which will help sway them.
Ethos is a necessary aspect of effective persuasion. No matter how strong an argument’s logical reasoning is, if the message lacks ethos, it won’t convince its audience because they’ll feel like they can’t trust the source of the information. Likewise, if an argument makes a strong emotional appeal to its readers, it will fall flat when the audience realizes the writer isn’t credible and that the emotions they evoked have no basis in truth.
The Characteristics of an Ethical Argument
An argument that utilizes ethos stresses the speaker’s trustworthiness, the moral virtue of their argument, and the good intentions towards their audience.
According to Aristotle, effective rhetoric must demonstrate ethos through three elements: arete, eunoia, and phronesis.
- Arete refers to the strong reasoning within the argument that illustrates its moral value. The virtue of the speaker’s position needs to be established clearly, step by step, throughout the argument so the audience understands the necessity of supporting the argued position.
- Eunoia is the good intentions the speaker or writer has towards their audience and the goodwill they establish. This rapport allows the audience to engage fully with the argument and trust that the speaker won’t lead them astray or manipulate any information to persuade them.
- Phronesis is the speaker or writer’s wisdom and depth of knowledge, which allows the audience to believe they’re a credible source. Highlighting the speaker’s integrity, good character, and experience enables the audience to trust the speaker’s authority and expertise.
Why Writers Use Ethos
Writers use ethos to establish trust with their readers. Ethos illustrates that the writer is a trustworthy communicator who has the knowledge and experience necessary to convey accurate information.
A writer’s ethos helps sway their audience towards supporting their position. Authors may also use ethos as an element of characterization when presenting their protagonist or other characters as ethical and trustworthy people.
Ethos vs. Ad Hominem
The term ad hominem means “to the person” and refers to a type of argument where someone attacks another person’s character, ethics, or behavior rather than addressing their argumentative position. Ad hominem arguments are meant to persuade an audience that they can’t trust the other person or, by extension, whatever they’re arguing to support. Ad hominem arguments essentially attempt to destroy the second person’s ethos and present them as untrustworthy.
Ad hominem arguments are common in politics. For example, a candidate may attack their opponent for being elitist. This characterization is an attempt to convince voters that the opponent is out of touch with the average citizen’s needs; however the term elitist reveals nothing of the politician’s policy or platform.
Because the focus is on someone’s personal character rather than their position, ad hominem arguments are considered logical fallacies. Despite this, these arguments are initially an effective persuasive tactic until the audience recognizes that the attack is on the other person rather than on their position.
Ethos Outside of Literature
Because ethos is a necessary tool in the persuasive toolbox, we often encounter it in our daily lives. Ethos is particularly evident in the realms of advertising and politics.
Ethos in Advertising
Many companies attempt to establish ethos through endorsements from celebrities and other professionals. For example, the success of Nike’s Air Jordan sneaker line relies on Michael Jordan’s credibility as arguably the greatest basketball player of all time. This convinces consumers that these sneakers are the best athletic shoes on the market.
The advertising campaigns for Colgate toothpaste, on the other hand, attempt to establish ethos by relying on the experience of the entire dental field when they claim that Colgate is the “#1 toothpaste recommended by dental professionals.”
Ethos in Politics
Ethos may be used by a politician or activist to establish themselves as a trustworthy voice, whereas ad hominem attacks may be used against candidates to discredit their ethos.
President Donald Trump has frequently used ad hominem attacks against Democrats, as well as politicians from his own party, in attempts to discredit them for their personal characteristics (“Sleepy Joe Biden,” “Crooked Hilary,” or “Little Marco Rubio”) rather than their policy platforms or positions.
By contrast, President Barack Obama utilized ethos in speeches to establish himself as a credible and trustworthy speaker. In a 2009 speech that addressed military action in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Obama thoroughly explained his policy to illustrate his detailed knowledge of the military and political strategies the United States would undertake.
Examples of Ethos in Literature
1. Jaquira Diaz, Ordinary Girls
In Diaz’s coming-of-age memoir, the section El Caserio begins:
This is where I begin. I come from poverty, from El Caserio Padre Rivera, the government housing projects, and there are stories here I never want to forget.
Diaz establishes her ethos by showing her background. She states unequivocally what her background is, where she’s from, and the importance of these stories to her. This allows readers to trust that Diaz will tell the truth about everything that follows.
2. Herman Melville, Moby Dick
Before the famous “Call me Ishmael” opening, Melville provides two scholarly catalogues as a preface to his novel. The first, “Etymology,” provides a list of the word whale in various alphabets, while the second, “Extracts,” includes a list of extracts from religious texts and works of literature where whales have appeared.
This playful use of prefaces helps establish Melville’s ethos. His breadth and depth of knowledge about the etymology and history of whales in literature and religious texts is revealed before his narrative about whaling even begins.
3. Cathy Park Hong, “All the Aphrodisiacs”
In this free verse poem, Hong details the story of a narrator whose lover exotifies her. When the lover says they’re sexually aroused by the narrator speaking Korean, she replies:
--pae-go-p’a (I am hungry)
--ch’i-wa (Clean up)
--kae sekki (Son of a dog)
And then:
I breathe those words in your ear, which make you climax;
afterwards you ask me for their translations. I tell you it’s a secret.
Hong establishes her ethos by detailing the Korean words and their accurate translations. She establishes phronesis by showing her fluency, arete by illustrating a situation where her lover doesn’t truly see her and instead objectifies her, and eunoia by translating the words for the audience so they feel aligned with her.
Further Resources for Ethos
For The Guardian, Tim Bale analyzed former British Prime Minister David Cameron’s use of ethos in his speeches.
MasterClass has a useful write up of ethos.
Richard Nordquist wrote an interesting exploration of ethos in classical rhetoric.