Abstract
‘[W]e seem able to approach ethos only within a set of paradoxes and . . . contradictions.’
Much has been written about ethos, or character, in rhetoric. Ethos as one of the artistic proofs is an important consideration for persuasion and therefore important for evaluating and crafting persuasive legal texts. By comparing and synthesizing classical and contemporary notions of ethos, this Article will craft a framework, or template, for examining ethos-based rhetorical strategies employed in persuasive documents. It will do so by first examining the classical rhetorical views of ethos from Isocrates, Aristotle, and Cicero. It will then compare and contrast classical views with those of contemporary scholars to situate ethotic appeal in written communication.
Two questions will guide the effort to locate ethotic appeal in persuasive texts. The first is a longstanding debate about whether a speaker or writer must possess ethos or good character, or whether ethotic appeal might be based upon an appearance of ethos. The second, related question is another debatable concept within considerations of ethos—that of its dwelling. Does ethos dwell in the speaker/writer? In the speech/text? Or in the exchange that takes place between speaker/writer and the audience? A careful consideration of classical and contemporary notions of ethos reveals that it dwells in all of these places. Thus, armed with an array of possible dwellings for ethotic appeal, and after considering modern conceptions of audience for written communication, this Article will engage in a practical application: using a framework that emerges from the consideration of these questions to examine ethos-based rhetorical strategies in a legal text.
‘Ethos . . . shifts and changes over time, across texts, and around competing spaces.’
Recommended Citation
Melissa H. Weresh,
Ethos at the Intersection: Classical Insights for Contemporary Application,
20
Nev. L.J.
877
(2020).
Available at:
https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/nlj/vol20/iss3/4