Pathos

Learning Objective

  • Recognize appeals to pathos

Appeals to Pathos

Key Takeaway: Pathos

Pathos is an appeal to emotion, often used to persuade an audience by evoking feelings rather than relying solely on logic.

Advertisements, for example, frequently use pathos—fast food commercials appeal to cravings rather than health concerns. Because we encounter emotional appeals constantly, it’s important to recognize them both as readers and writers.

Cartoon man holding a heart.

Figure 1. Knowing your audience well is vital when considering an appeal to pathos- will it arouse sympathy and interest in your readers?

As a reader, you should be able to analyze how some artifacts turn up the pathos to persuade; as a writer, you need to be careful not to overly rely on pathos as an attempt to sway readers. Remember that while some people may lean heavily on their emotions, others will not be persuaded by strong appeals to pathos, and you will need to consider how to reach them.

People are more likely to engage with an issue when they feel a personal connection to it. Writers and speakers use pathos to create this connection by appealing to shared emotions, values, or beliefs. Even in academic writing, authors may frame issues in ways that resonate with their audience, though they primarily rely on logic and evidence rather than emotion alone.

Evaluating Pathos in Arguments

An author may use an audience’s attitudes, beliefs, or values as a kind of foundation for his or her argument—a layer that the writer knows is already in place at the outset of the argument.  When assessing an argument’s use of pathos, consider:

  • Does it effectively engage the audience’s emotions?
  • Does it assume the audience shares specific beliefs or attitudes?
  • Is it balanced with logic and evidence, or does it rely too much on emotion?

Example: Evaluating Pathos

At a community forum on immigration, a speaker begins by sharing the story of the Rodriguez family. Ten years ago, they immigrated to the United States in search of better opportunities. Mr. Rodriguez now runs a successful small business, employing several local workers, while Mrs. Rodriguez volunteers at a local food bank. Their eldest daughter recently earned a scholarship to study engineering, hoping to give back to the country that gave her family a chance.

By opening with this story, the speaker assumes the audience values fairness and opportunity. This appeal to pathos encourages listeners to see immigrants not just as statistics but as hardworking individuals contributing to their communities. However, to strengthen the argument, the speaker must also include logic (logos)—such as data on immigrant-owned businesses and economic contributions—and credibility (ethos) by citing experts or research on immigration’s impact. Without these elements, the argument might be dismissed as emotionally driven rather than well-reasoned.

Manipulative Appeals to Pathos

A pathos appeal can be a powerful tool when used in moderation, and in balance with the other rhetorical appeals.  For example, a speaker might start with a personal story about how a law affects an individual to capture the audience’s attention before presenting logical evidence for or against the law. In this case, pathos enhances the argument without replacing reason.

However, emotional appeals become problematic when they unfairly play upon and manipulate the audience’s feelings and emotions through fallacious, misleading, or excessively emotional appeals. Overuse of such tactics may alienate the audience rather than persuade them.

Example: Excessive use of Pathos

An example of the overuse of pathos would be the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) commercials featuring the song “In the Arms on an Angel” and footage of abused animals. Even Sarah McLachlan, the singer and spokesperson featured in the commercials, admits that she changes the channel because they are too depressing (Brekke, 2014).

Key Takeaway: Using PAthos

Even if an appeal to pathos is not manipulative, it should complement rather than replace reason and evidence-based arguments. A strong argument balances pathos, ethos (credibility), and logos (logic). Relying solely on emotion without evidence or credibility weakens an argument and risks losing the audience.

Pathos and Kairos

Kairos means the right moment or, more simply, timeliness. Appeals to emotion are more likely to be effective work if they are also timely. For example, people were more likely to give to charities related to 9/11 soon after the tragedy than they are now. However, donations still rise nearer the actual date of September 11 each year. This is an intersection of kairos and pathos. In other words, people’s emotions are heightened because of a particular time.

Timeliness and emotion might be tied to an annual event, such as sadness or depression on the anniversary of a loved one’s death or pride in the United States on the 4th of July. Other examples could have much larger time frames, such as suspicion and fear of one’s neighbors during the Red Scare in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Or they could be on a much smaller scale, like someone being more generous and cheerful than normal on Friday evenings because the work week is over.

When writing and considering an appeal to pathos, also consider the timeliness. If you were writing a piece on why present-day Americans should fear a widespread viral infectious disease outbreak, it might seem untimely to use the example of smallpox, which was eradicated decades ago, especially since there have been more recent diseases that present greater threats to the limits of modern medicine.

Glossary

kairos: a time when conditions are right for the accomplishment of a crucial action; the opportune and decisive moment.

pathos: appeal to emotion