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Pathos is one of the three modes of persuasion in rhetoric (along with ethos and logos). Pathos appeals to the audience's emotions. It is a part of Aristotle's philosophies in rhetoric.
Pathos can best be described as the use of emotional appeal to sway another's opinion. Effective use of pathos is often used to cause anger or sorrow in the audience.
Pathos is often the rhetorical vehicle of public service announcements. A number of anti-smoking and second hand smoking related commercials use pathos heavily. One of the more memorable shows an elderly man rising from the couch to meet his young grandson who, followed by the child's mother, is taking his first steps toward the grandfather. As the old man coaxes the young child forward, the grandfather begins to disappear. As the child walks through him the mother says "I wish your grandpa could see you now." The audience is left to assume that the grandfather has died, and an announcer informs us that cigarette smoke kills so many people a year, with a closing statement to the effect of "be there for the ones you love." This commercial uses powerful words (like "love") and images to get at the emotions of the viewer, encouraging them to quit smoking. The goal is for the audience to becoming so "enlightened" and emotionally moved that the smoking viewers never touch another cigarette.
Here are some ways to create emotiona appeal:
- by metaphor or story telling, common as a hook,
- by a general passion in the delivery and an overall amount of emotional items in the text of the speech, or in writing.
In rhetoric, pathos is the use of emotional appeals to alter the audience's judgment. A common use of pathos in argument is creating a sense of rejection if the audience doesn't agree. Creating a fear of rejection is in essence, creating a pathos argument.
Over-emotionalism can be the result of an excess of pathos.
The term is commonly used by critics, especially in positive reference to the dramatic performances of actors.
See also[]
- Rhetoric