Thursday, November 03, 2005

Logos

Logos is the authority we give to a statement based on Logic. Generally, scholarly papers are Logos driven. They appeal to reason. We all see this in advertising as well. If A+B=C and we have proven A and B then we generally agree that C is true. This allows the person who reads the article or paper to come up with his own conclusion of truth based on known facts and information. Of course this information is not always conclusive or true in the first place. If we have given you false initial data then the conclusion can be false. All data can be skewed. You must trust the source of the data, which requires a certain amount of Ethos. Relying on quotations, facts and equations are all forms of the logical argument or Logos.

4 comments:

Jay Noel said...

Logos in communication is what appeals to those that are thinkers, logical, and educated. These people are ruled more by the mind than the heart. They are the ones who are not swayed by emotion, and look for true answers.
The problem is, the masses - the mob - lacks the ability to be logical.

DLAK said...

Fuck logic, I need a dictionary...

ObilonKenobi said...

That was what was wrong with the 2004 election. Please - the masses - voted out of fear (Pathos) not Logic (Logos). The Bush Administration put GW out there as a great leader and crusader while Kerry who actually went to war and then came home to make a statement about the war he had just fought in was cast as a weak, cowardly and unpatriotic. His Eothos was destroyed.

ObilonKenobi said...

I can separate the three conons like this:

Ethos - Captain Kirk
Logos - Spock
Pathos - Bones