Critical Analysis Of Steven Pinker's In Defense Of Dangerous Ideas

To begin with, ethos is apparent in the excerpt “The Most Dangerous Job” by Eric Schlosser through his stories about workers and their families’ struggles. In the excerpt “The Most Dangerous Job,” Eric Schlosser states, “Each of their stories was different, yet somehow familiar, linked by common elements-the same struggle to receive proper medical care, the same fear of speaking out, the same underlying corporate indifference” (Schlosser 186). Schlosser shows the audience that he is a credible source through the stories of workers families. The families’ hardships showcase the corruption inside of

Ethos is an appeal to ethics, which gives the author credibility to persuade their attended audience. For instance, both Lukianoff and Haidt give a little insight about who they are, “Greg Lukianoff is a constitutional lawyer and the president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which defends free speech and academic freedom on campus, and has advocated for students and faculty involved in many of the incidents this article describes; Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist who studies the American culture wars.” (Lukianoff and Haidt). Using this rhetorical strategy to start their argument off was a strong approach to persuading their attended audience because it provides credibility to the readers to prove to them that the authors know what they’re talking about and it makes the argument much more effective. Another example of ethos that the authors provide is, “Today, what we call the Socratic method is a way of teaching that fosters critical thinking, in part by encouraging students to question their own unexamined beliefs, as well as the received wisdom of those around them… But vindictive protectiveness teaches students to think in a very different way… A campus culture devoted to policing speech and punishing speakers is likely to engender patterns of thought that are surprisingly similar to those long identified by cognitive behavioral therapists as causes

One of the first argumentative tools about Foer’s article is his use of ethos, ethos is an ethical appeal or means to convince

Ethos is the credibility, moral character, and experience of the speaker. In Mary Fisher’s speech she uses ethos to show her involvement and passion for AIDS. Mary Fisher was infected with the AIDS virus and her son contracted the virus at birth. In telling the viewers this she illustrated why she is so passionate about the cause. Another way she builds ethos is through her moral character. She does this by telling the audience she is concerned with the future of all

Ethos is to convince someone of character or credibility of the persuader. It puts author

Ethos is a strategy used to assure the audience of the author’s integrity and character. To begin the speech, Wiesel says “Mr. President, Mrs. Clinton, members of Congress, Ambassador Holbrooke, Excellencies, friends”, he is putting himself and the listeners who were not specifically specified onto the same level, to connect better with them (Wiesel, 1999/16, p. 76). He is showing the audience that he is human and respects everyone, but furthermore does not want anyone to

Meanwhile, ethos allow the reader to view the author as a trustworthy source and builds the author's credibility. An author can do this in a number of different ways, such as using other credible sources to their advantage or by building common ground with the reader. It is especially important for Gladwell’s audience to trust him, as he is trying to convince them that what they believe about success is wrong.

Numerous examples of Ethos can be identified throughout the writing. To begin with, Adam Grant is a writer for the

In the essay we read, entitled “Why Our Campuses Are Safer Without Concealed Handguns”, we see the author use five main points, as well as using appeals to Ethos Logos and Pathos to help reinforce his view on the topic. The five main reasons that the author feels that college campuses are safer without concealed handguns are introduced to us in the opening of the article, listed as bullet points. The author then goes on to break the article into these separate sections to allow him to go more in depth and explain his position. In this way, he appeals to the reader’s sense of Ethos throughout the entire article by convincing us that he knows what he is taking about. However, the author does not stop here.

According to Alan G. Gross and Arthur E. Walzer, ethos is a type of ethical appeal establishing the speaker’s credibility or character and expertise as persuasive techniques (…). Throughout, Evicted Matthew Desmond employs ethos to gain and reinforce his knowledge and expertise on the subject, to prove his reliability as a

In this TEDTalk, Steven Pinker introduced an interesting trend in societal violence. The talk began by presenting fax that showed a dramatic decrease in the amount of violent crime beginning as far back as the earliest human hunter-gatherers. In many places during that time period, the chances of dying at the hands of another human were as high is sixty percent. Although the media and people tend to believe we are living in a time of extreme violence, we are actually living during one of the most peaceful times in human history. Even though the 20th Century witnessed tragedies such as the Holocaust, Rwanda, Stalin’s mass executions, and two World Wars, the chances of a human by violent means was less than three percent.

An example where Jane Addams uses ethos is in the second paragraph, which says “I have seen young girls suffer grow sensibly lowered in vitality in the first years after they leave school.” Jane Addams is directly saying that she sees this rather than saying she knows someone who has seen. That makes the audience more compelled to believe her and her argument because she has witnessed it herself. The ethos that she uses in her writing really does help with communicating the her purpose very well. She is able to get her point across with ethos, pathos, and even a little bit of

Ethos means credibility. In this speech there are a lot of things Martin Luther King Jr. used to make it credible and trustworthy. He uses the Bible, the Gettysburg Address, and

The book and the movie also had many examples of ethos in them. One of them would be where it says, “..., but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant.” That shows that it’s ethos because Atticus is saying that the jury needs to be absolutely sure that they are right about Tom Robinson before they sentence him because if they weren’t sure, it wouldn’t be fair or ethical. Another example would be where it says, “She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She

Ethos appeals to ethics, and it’s a way of convincing someone about the credibility of the persuader. Whatever you read, whether it’s a news article, commercial, or a post on Instagram, you are evaluating the message for a sense of the character and the credibility of the sender. Our culture teaches us to be doubtful of these messages. Because of this, people strive to influence our opinions by building up their credibility.