For our readings in class, we discussed some article by Jay Heinrichs where he gives insight on what makes a convincing argument. Heinrichs breaks down the famous ideology by Aristotle where he believes that there were three most effective ways to persuade someone. Aristotle’s big threes consist of logos, ethos, and pathos. Although they have used different techniques such as logos using argument by logic, ethos using argument by character, and pathos using argument by emotion they all are intended to attack the brain of the audience. In the article “Soften them up” Heinrichs states “Logos, ethos, and pathos those appealed to the brain go and heart of the audience while our brain tries to sort out the facts are gut tells us whether we can trust the other person in our heart makes us want to do something about it.” I found this very interesting because I think it can be very reliable based on the fact that within our society are people who come from different backgrounds and believe in different things. This ideology that Aristotle came up with covers bases of persuading different types of people. Personally, I find myself being more convinced with ethos, a person’s character says a lot about them. If that person can build a good reputation for themselves by just being trustworthy and smart overall is going to make believing them that much easier. Heinrichs states “an audience is more likely to believe a trustworthy person and to accept his argument. A person’s life persuades better than his word.” This quote is how I aspire to live my life because as you go through life you are constantly trying to gain Credentials and when you are caught in the heat of argument your life experiences such as the places you have can speak stronger than any of the words coming out of your mouth.
Works Cited
Heinrichs, Jay. “Chapter 4. Soften Them Up.” Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us about the Art of Persuasion, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2017, pp. 40.