Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triad — The Art Of Persuasion

Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher and polymath, propounded a method of comprehending and applying the modes of persuasion primarily through fostering the usage of rhetorical devices in his work, ‘On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civil Discourse’ that influenced responses and interplays.

His conviction was that the rhetorical triad posited by him could facilitate the generation of meaning in conduct while sculpting the power of communication with eloquence and awareness in speech and thought.

Aristotle’s postulate was not deliberated for didactic purposes, but for experiential instigation. His heuristics of interpreting and applying the tenets of the rhetorical triad were grounded in consistent study and observations drawn from several plays and authentic experiences to conjecture generalizations.

Aristotle’s deductive analysis of rhetoric as a concept is what conceded an understanding of the operating principles in play. This consequently, created an expanse for Aristotle to illustrate the usage and value of rhetoric as a scientific device, which could potentially serve in the case of truth and justice.

According to Aristotle, it stimulated intellectual induction in the arrangement of speaking and writing, to prompt the audience, build the style of the rhetorician and effectuate a myriad of discursive arguments in the frame. Sequentially, it initiates from the writer/speaker to the text, and lastly, closes on the response elicited by the audience. Thus, it is essentially the initiation of spurring a contention to propel discussion.

Correspondingly, three different types of appeals, i.e. rhetorical mechanisms are to be deployed by individuals for the purpose of persuasion — ethos, pathos and logos. The first is, ‘Ethos’, which is fundamentally, an appeal to authority and eminence of the speaker. It is focused on how the individual speaker concerned satisfies the audience of own credibility. This is observed through the appropriate conduct, which entails the right articulation and signs of gestural cues through body language.

The same, in writing, is expressed in a fashion to establish a foundation for the interpretation of the writer’s character and portrait, effectively channelled into one’s writing. For illustration, one can consider the example of commentary on explicit case-related matters.

The second type is, ‘Pathos’ which is an appeal to the affective component of one’s conduct. In simple words, it is an appeal to emotions. The emotive impression can be cultivated in speech and writing through pensive reflection and emphasis on the invocation of specific affective elements in the audience. An example would be the incorporation of humour in the text and/or speech.

The third type is ‘Logos’ which is the appeal to the practice logic and intelligence. It is essentially backed by rational premises to ground an argument, and also incorporates causal and objective explanations to discern varied exchanges. This principle in action relies on reasoning in speech and writing and can be recognised in research-oriented and factual information presented.

Regardless of the insuperable effect that these forms of persuasion may claim to have, the peripheral aspects of presentation, impression control, along with non-verbal cues are integral in the art of persuasion to make the act well-rounded and accomplish the objective of conferring our thoughts and ideas to prompt action.