Ghandi's Appeal

Economic and Moral Progress Persuasive Approach Mohandas k Gandhi was a skilled mediator and powerful spokesman for justice whom he effectively used in his “Economic and Moral Progress” speech. Gandhi uses various appeals from religion and scriptural traditions to persuade his audience on the matters that occurred in India. With references to Indi’s history and the Bible, Gandhi uses logos in persuading, Ethos in referring, and pathos in appealing. In using logos to persuade the key concepts, Gandhi uses firm reason by going back to the history of India in using well established personalities to state his point if economic progress clashes with real progress. “They seem to be obsessed with the concrete case of thirty millions of India stated by the late Sir William Hunter to be living on one meal a day. They say that before we can think or talk of their moral welfare, we must satisfy our daily wants, ”.(Austin 334) He puts the audience mind in understanding that the western government is worried with other things rather than the many Indians that are in poverty by living on one mean a day and in so doing tries to persuade the audience mind by making sense from the general to the particular, thus using what Indians think and rephrasing it towards the westerners.” With these, they say, material progress spells out moral progress. And then is taken a sudden jump: What is true of the thirty millions is true of the universe. They forget that hard cases make bad law”(Austin 334) Gandhi finishes strong in using sarcasm to in stating that the westerners forget India is large populations and in so doing gives his audience power through his voice thus using logos from the generalization of the westerners to the principles of Indians. With Gandhi being a likable person and well known around in the society, looked upon as a mini-God. He effectively uses credibility through ethos in completing his persuasion to grab his audience mind, through his

Cited: Austin David “Economic and Moral Progress.” Reading the World: Ideas that Matter 2nd ed. Marilyn Moller and Erin Granville. New York: 5th Avenue 332-339