Ethos Pathos Logos Kairos

Ethos or the ethical appeal, means to convince an audience of the author's credibility or character. Pathos or the emotional appeal, means to persuade an audience by appealing to their emotions. ... Logos or the appeal to logic, means to convince an audience by use of logic or reason.

The modes of persuasion, often referred to as ethical strategies or rhetorical appeals, are devices in rhetoric that classify the speaker's appeal to the audience. They are: ethospathos, and logos, and the less-used kairos

Ethos (/ˈiːθɒs/ or US/ˈiːθoʊs/) is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology.


Pathos (/ˈpeɪθɒs/US/ˈpeɪθoʊs/; plural: patheaGreekπάθος, for "suffering" or "experience"; adjectival form: pathetic from παθητικός) appeals to the emotions of the audience and elicits feelings that already reside in them.[1] Pathos is a communication technique used most often in rhetoric (in which it is considered one of the three modes of persuasion, alongside ethos and logos), as well as in literature, film, and other narrative art.


Logos (UK/ˈloʊɡɒs, ˈlɒɡɒs/US/ˈloʊɡoʊs/Ancient Greekλόγοςromanizedlógos; from λέγωlégōlit. 'I say') is a term in Western philosophypsychologyrhetoric, and religion derived from a Greek word variously meaning "ground", "plea", "opinion", "expectation", "word", "speech", "account", "reason", "proportion", and "discourse".[1][2] It became a technical term in Western philosophy beginning with Heraclitus (c.  535 – c.  475 BC), who used the term for a principle of order and knowledge.[3]


Kairos (Ancient Greekκαιρός) is an Ancient Greek word meaning the right, critical, or opportune moment.[1] The ancient Greeks had two words for timechronos (χρόνος) and kairos. The former refers to chronological or sequential time, while the latter signifies a proper or opportune time for action. While chronos is quantitative, kairos has a qualitative, permanent nature.[2] Kairos also means weather in Modern Greek. The plural, καιροί (kairoi (Ancient and Modern Greek)) means the times. Kairos is a term, idea, and practice that has been applied in several fields including classical rhetoric, modern rhetoric, digital media, Christian theology, and science.