Argumentation continued ...
Argumentation is the art of persuading your audience that your ideas are
valid, or at least more valid than someone else's. The Greek philosopher Aristotle considered this subject at length and
he classified the three different aspects that go into making up a good
argument. These aspects are Ethos, Pathos, and Logos; all of them are necessary.
Ethos (Credibility), or ethical appeal, is the art of
convincing someone of your ideas based on your character and authority. We tend
to believe people whom we respect. Thus, the more senior one is, and the more
experience and success they have had in a field, the more likely we are to
accept their word on any new aspect within that field. Now that Barry Marshall
has won the Nobel Prize, his views on gastric problems, even new ones unrelated
to ulcers, are taken very seriously. However, when he was a junior researcher
competing against the establishment he had great difficulty even getting his
papers published.
Ethos is also used in other situations when we need convincing or are about
to take a decision. Brand labels affect our purchasing choices, even when there
is very little difference in the product. Indeed, ethos can be used
inappropriately when advertisers take a respected authority in one field and
get them to endorse a product in another (for example, a world-class cricketer
endorsing an air-conditioning system).
One of the central problems of argumentation for a young scholar is to
project an impression to the reader that you are someone worth listening to, in
other words projecting yourself as author into an authority on the subject of
the paper, as well as someone who is likable and worthy of respect.
Here are some examiners’ quotes around the idea of Ethos.
Ethos
well-established:
“I sometimes found it difficult to persuade myself that
(this) is a doctoral thesis. Most theses are narrowly focussed and accessible
only to specialists. This essay is broadly informed and readable by anyone
interested in learning about X. Most theses are written in a flat-footed,
“academic” style, laden with technical terms, often gratuitous. This is in
sparkling, clear, engaging prose, with technical terms always clearly explained
and well motivated. Most theses are impersonal documents that obscure the
personality of their authors. This is a charming, deeply personal intellectual
quest. One source of the difference between this thesis and most others is that
they are the products of apprentices or journeymen aspiring to be masters,
whereas this is the work of a master striving to improve his craft.”
Here is another:
“It was a pleasure to read the PhD thesis of Mr X. It is one
of the most creative theses I have ever read. Not only is the research
outstanding; its presentation is that of a genuine scholar.”
Ethos not well-established:
“This thesis is technically sound, and develops and
maintains an argument. However, I have concerns about its quality. Admittedly,
it is now difficult to say anything new about .... Certainly, there are always
more details that come to light, and it is always possible to correct minutiae
that previous researchers have got wrong. But does this add anything to our
understanding … In the case of this thesis, the evidence has not been stretched
in anyway … the conclusions lack weight.”
Pathos (Emotional) is the art of persuading your audience by
appealing to their emotions. We can look at texts ranging from classic essays
through to newspaper columns or contemporary advertisements to see how pathos
or emotional appeals are used to persuade. How many products are sold with the
idea that they will improve your love life? Ice-creams, skin creams, cars,
clothing and jewellery all fall into this category. Politicians used pathos to convince voters
about their policies. They usually appeal to emotions surrounding fear (fear of
tax rises, fear of failing law and order, fear of lack of access to health care
etc) or emotions surrounding national pride (they associate themselves with
major international sporting or cultural events). Language choice affects the
audience's emotional response, and emotional appeal can effectively be used to
enhance an argument.
Here are some examiners’ quotes relating to pathos.
Pathos well-established:
“At an overall level what really impressed me was that on reading this
thesis the reader vividly experiences not only what it is to be one of these
children but also their teachers who have the daily challenge of working with
them. The vignettes and storylines are powerfully and skilfully done. If
nothing else these vignettes and descriptions should make us pause and consider
how lucky most of us are in our daily untroubled lives. The skilful development
of grounded theory adds the important scholarly dimension to the descriptive
narrative.”
Pathos not well-established:
“In my opinion, this document readily meets the requirements of a doctoral
dissertation in that it makes an original contribution to knowledge. The style
and format is not typical, but it is relatively easy to extract the solid
science from the occasionally shrill invective. … I will propose different
wording to soften the tone or suggest that some passages be eliminated as
irrelevant to the overall message of the work.”
Logos (Logical) is the art of persuading the reader by the use
of reasoning. This was Aristotle's favourite technique and the one covered in a
previous blog on argumentation.