Aristotle's Use Of Ethos Pathos And Kairos

Reading Response 1

When confronting issues of masculinity, one must defend their ideologic view of how a man should act in society. Certain types of appeals, created by the greek philosopher Aristotle, are most likely to prove the general efficacy of the defendant’s argument. These appeals include logos, ethos, pathos, and kairos. To consider which of these appeals is the most effective for proving demonstrable qualities of masculinity, one must take into consideration the time the argument is being presented. The timeliness of the argument can be directly paralleled to the appeal kairos. According to Writing Arguments, on page 111, the appeal of kairos, “ is to be attuned to the total context of a situation in order to act in the right
way at the right moment.” An argument for defending the qualities of someone’s masculinity can be out of date and unusable if they do not view history as a linear progression of changing ideals of masculinity.
For example, in the early 1900’s, immigrant Jews in the United States were not admitted into universities due to racial discrimination. Jews then found alternate routes, like boxing, to make money and become successful. Most conventional methods of judging masculinity can have inherent biases and are based off the idea of being a white, middle class American. So, a middle class American in 2016 arguing that boxing proves his masculinity must consider his audience and the correct context of his argument. If his audience was older, they could have contrasting views of masculinity in reference to boxing. Without considering the historical context and the timeliness that an argument is presented, the validity of the argument can be questioned. Another example of why the timeliness of an argument being presented is important is the arbitrary nature of the qualities of masculinity. Society can switch the values it places on masculinity which makes kairos so important. For instance, in the 2000’s men wore long, baggy jeans, which indirectly defined their masculinity. But, now men wear tighter jeans, and cuff them at the bottom. A man from the 2000’s would
consider this to be feminine and call it homosexual but, it is now considered socially acceptable by men. It is important to note that as history progresses and society changes, so does each generations ideas of masculinity. Kairos allows for an argument to be seen in its correct context, thus reinforcing societies current view of masculinity. The appeal with the least efficacy in terms of masculinity is ethos. Ethos refers to the speakers credibility. Since gender roles and masculinity have been proved to be arbitrary in the aforementioned paragraph, the credibility of someone arguing their masculinity is no longer needed. The ideals of masculinity are constantly being shaped and molded differently by each new generation. The constantly changing nature of masculinity makes it near impossible for one person to judge what is masculine and what is not. Even now as transgenders and homosexuals are becoming more socially accepted and empowered, even men can no longer be the credible ruler for which masculinity is measured.