Rhetoric Review Jan 2024

The Phantom of Pure Ethos

Nathan R. Wagner University of North Georgia

Abstract

Ethos is an inherent characteristic of persuasion in commonplace scenarios. The acceptance of everyday communicative practices compels belief and trust in language usage, often without question of simple statements. A more substantial understanding of the perceived ethical quality of language usage will afford a richer view of communicative acts, cultures, politics, and events. Three areas of language usage and appearance determine this ethical quality: communion, occasion, and occurrence. Combined, these areas suggest how the phenomena of language usage, particularly within epideictic rhetoric, is not inherently factual in-itself but projects the illusion that it is such.

Journal
Rhetoric Review
Published
2024-01-02
DOI
10.1080/07350198.2023.2286145
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
classical rhetoric rhetorical criticism argument
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (19) · 4 in this index

  1. Aristotle (2007)
    On Rhetoric
  2. Aristotle (1987)
    Poetics
  3. Augustine (1995)
    Contra Academicos and De magistro
  4. 10.1525/9780520353237
     ↗
  5. Constable (2019)
    Words Matter
    Philosophy & Rhetoric
Show all 19 →
  1. Davis (2017)
    Rhetoricity at the End of the World
    Philosophy & Rhetoric
  2. 10.56021/9781421419954
     ↗
  3. 10.1353/par.2006.0006
     ↗
  4. Lucretius (2001)
    On the Nature of Things
  5. Morton Timothy. (2018)
    Dark Ecology: For a Future Logic of Coexistence
  6. Nietzsche Friedrich. (2011)
    Dawn: Thoughts on the Presumptions of Morality
  7. 10.1353/par.2005.0009
     ↗
  8. Perelman Chaïm. (1982)
    The Realm of Rhetoric
  9. 10.1007/978-94-010-1713-8_8
     ↗
  10. Plato (1995)
    Phaedrus
  11. Rickert (2019)
    It Is All There: From Reason to Reasoning-in-the-World
    Philosophy & Rhetoric
  12. Russell Bertrand. (1997)
    The Problems of Philosophy
  13. Stormer (2020)
    Rhetoric by Accident
    Philosophy & Rhetoric
  14. Weaver Richard. (1970)
    Language is Sermonic: Richard M. Weaver on the Nature of Rhetoric
CrossRef global citation count: 0 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Res Rhetorica Apr 2026
    Logos in ancient Greek discourse on rhetoric: An overview ↗
    Arkadiusz Sokolnicki
    classical rhetoric rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument
  2. Poroi Feb 2026
    Using Stasis Theory as a Heuristic for Examining Epistemological Dilemmas in a Post-Truth Landscape ↗
    Bruce Bowles
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument
  3. Res Rhetorica Jan 2026
    Ethos – between vir bonus and VIA: Virtue ethics in contemporary rhetorical education ↗
    Agnieszka Budzyńska-Daca
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory argument
  4. Rhetorica Jan 2026
    The Daimonion of Isocrates: Anti-Socratic Polemics and the Power of Politikoi Logoi in the Philippos ↗
    Tobias Hirsch
    classical rhetoric rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument
  5. Philosophy & Rhetoric Oct 2025
    The Intellectual and Cultural Origins of Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca’s New Rhetoric Project: Commentaries on and Translations of Seven Foundational Articles, 1933–1958 ↗
    Christopher W. Tindale
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis revision argument collaborative writing editorial matter