Logos and pathos in Aristotle’s Rhetoric . A journey into the role of emotions in rational persuasion in rhetoric

Abstract

This paper demonstrates that in the context of Aristotle’s Rhetoric and the Topics, logos and pathos are not two different ways of arguing. Aristotle highlights the rational nature of persuasion : the reasons that support a claim can be based on the characteristics of things or on what arises emotions in the audience. While Aristotle designed dialectical argumentation focusing on logical rules and endoxa, in the Rhetoric he recognized the major role that emotions play in actual persuasion. Within this framework, the emotional appeal is not an alternative to the rational appeal : it is the outcome of a topical choice and of the strategy of argumentation that an orator intends to use. Ultimately, the quality of the argumentation depends on the morality and the goals of speakers. But for those orators who have the best intentions to benefit society, Aristotle designed a training that empowers them in all that matters to convince an audience.