Learning Logos Improves English Grades - It's a Fact!

Image Courtesy of BrainDecides

Did you know that 83% of Penn State students have watched How I Met Your Mother? If you're a part of that 17%, perhaps you are now contemplating watching it to see why so many people here have. The figure is powerful and I could use it to try and argue for you to watch the show if you haven't. Of course, that statistic is fabricated and is actually a reference to the show as Barney Stinson consistently chooses that percentage when trying to win an argument. This small exercise was a reminder that although factual statements seem always trustworthy because they are presented as facts, sometimes manipulation occurs. But, when credible statistics are actually implemented into an argument, the argument gains momentum and it is more easily accepted by the audience. The 83% was a statistic which falls under the umbrella term logos, which is the rhetorical device that relies on reasoning.

Logos often serves as the backbone of arguments. The reason it is essential to every persuasive form is because the audience often finds it grounded in reason and thus cannot be so easily disregarded. No, logos is not as flashy as pathos or contain the same excitement from the exigency of kairos. But it does connect to all of these other rhetorical devices. Citing well known scientists in the impact of climate change calls on the ethos of the expert, and thus bolsters the credibility of the messenger. These statistics could also lead into a pathos driven argument if the statistic is particularly concerning. For instance, claiming that "Only 1 out of every 10 dogs born will find a permanent home" can segue into discussing personal experiences of working in shelters for dogs. It helps the audience to conceptualize how drastic the problem is, thus priming the audience to be more easily influenced by inducing pathos through a tragic depiction of a homeless puppy.

Because statistics are sometimes untrustworthy, logos is often seen as inductive and deductive reasoning, analogies, and other obscure forms of logical reasoning. The following example is using logos against itself, without a statistic for the refuation:
 Proponents for raising the driving age can cite the fact that "16 year old is almost twice as likely to die in a car crash than a 30 year old." But one employing logos to counter the point states that 16 is the first year of driving. Thus, this specific age group is the most inexperienced and raising the age restriction will likely just make the new age just as likely to be in an accident. There is no statistic to support this type of counterargument since the situation has been untested; however, the counterargument changes a premise: it is inexperience, rather than age, that is related to accident frequency. By switching the premise to inexperience instead of age, an individual can still draw the same conclusion as the initial claim (inexperience is main factor of the high accident rate), thus rendering the debate deadlocked. 

The above demonstrated how logos is powerful and ubiquitous, but this perspective of the appeal is already well established. However, it is imperative to understand how logos can be abused in an argument and to understand how you might be manipulated without knowing. Though my illustration in the introduction was inconsequential and you may have immediately saw through its falsity, fabrication does occur. In terms of the political level, the website PolitiFact exposes lies that are presented as truths, thus it is important to question the legitimacy of logos. 

Notice that the statistic of the driving age can be misleading in the sense that it is not indicative of cause and effect, but sounds like it could be. Indeed, many people will hear the statistic and decide being younger causes one to get into car crashes more often. This is wrong! It is merely a correlation. If it were cause and effect, then it would be an easy decision to raise the driving age. But because the figures came from a compilation of data and not from experimentation, cause and effect cannot be claimed as confounding variables and lack of control muddies any possible cause and effect. Speakers trying to raise the driving age will purposefully frame the statistic to sound like cause and effect, thus it is important to recognize the distinction, even when it sounds convincing. That is not to say to completely disregard facts, but understand they might not be telling the whole story. So despite logos seemingly being the concrete, unchanging constant in rhetoric, the appeal is revealed to be more sly when scrutinized. 

Image Courtesy of Liz T

Still, logos in an integral part to understanding the rhetoric of any form of persuasion. It can aid in your own life, from heated political debates to casual conversations with friends. Indeed, next time your friends from Pitt try to argue that Pitt is a better school, remind them of the fact that Penn State won in a dominating fashion of 33-14!