Ethos, Pathos and Legal Audience

Dickinson Law Review, Vol. 95, Fall 1994

25 Pages Posted: 4 Oct 2014

Date Written: 1994

Abstract

Modern lawyers who familiarize themselves with the over 2,000 year-old rhetorical principles of pathos and ethos as they appear in the works of Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilian will be surprised by how valuable and timeless their insights are. In their works, all three men provide comprehensive, systematic and experience-based analyses of how Greco-Roman advocates used both the emotional content of their cases and their own personal credibility to persuade legal audiences. Modern practice manuals and treatises have increasingly taken into account the practical wisdom of all three men and show how their insights and advice apply to modern legal practice.

Keywords: classical rhetoric, ethos, pathos, legal discourse, audience, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian

Suggested Citation

Frost, Michael, Ethos, Pathos and Legal Audience (1994). Dickinson Law Review, Vol. 95, Fall 1994, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2504802

Michael Frost (Contact Author)

Southwestern Law School ( email )

3050 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90010
United States

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