Author: Joe Collins

Ethos is considered the credibility of the speaker, which is not only characterized by the speaker’s position and reputation but also their character. Much of the work and foundational knowledge rhetoricians have regarding ethos comes from the work of Aristotle in his outlining and characterizations of the three artistic proofs or appeals of rhetoric. While ethos may seem to be considered an ancient idea, it is present in every degree of communication. The current tendency is that ethos is an ancient concept with a singular meaning among classical writers; however, the universal applicability and ever-changing connotation and denotation of ethos is not always realized (Sattler, 1947, p. 55). Ethos shapes individuals and communities and has changed since Aristotle’s configuration of the term. Therefore, the concept of ethos must continue to be revisited.

The word ethos is derived from the Greek word for custom, habit, or usage (Sattler, 1947, p. 55). Upon first glance, it is not necessarily clear to see the connection between the origin and its common meaning in both the colloquial and rhetorical realms. The connotation behind the original meaning was that if the customs or practices of a certain group were given the “stamp of approval,” or an ethos, that meant they were accepted in society (Sattler, 1947). The word then moved beyond a group of people and would be attributed to individuals, shifting the meaning to the “totality of character traits” (Sattler, 1947). Over time the word began to be attributed to a person’s character, described in the twentieth century as “character as it emerges in language” (Corder 1978, p. 2). This presents a double movement with the word, as it is not only how one sees oneself, but complimentary how one is seen by others (Baumlin and Meyer, 2018, p. 6).

Ethos was used to describe individuals and groups based on their character and practices, which allowed the term to bridge over to the rhetorical realm. Ethos in rhetoric takes on two forms, similar to how Baumlin and Meyer (2018) described it as having a double movement. The first form of ethos in rhetoric is the ethos of the speaker. To have and use ethos means to have an overall goodness and honesty in both intentions and actions as well as good intentions and consideration for the well-being of the audience (Sattler, 1947, p. 55-56). The second form that ethos in rhetoric takes is portraying the ethos of another group or individual (Sattler, 1947). The ability to allow ethos to take this form implies that one must first have ethos themselves in order to portray and describe the ethos of another. There have been many debates as to how ethos in rhetoric manifests itself, but all have stemmed from the same foundation.

While Aristotle was the first to give ethos a definitive articulation, other rhetoricians had touched on the meaning and manifestation of ethos, such as Plato, and Corax and Tisias (Sattler, 1947, p. 56). In order to have Aristotle’s definition of ethos become the foundation, he had to alter some of the positions his predecessors took before him. Pre-Aristotelian rhetoricians would describe ethos as this systematic strategy that was used in order to persuade audiences (Sattler, 1947, p. 57). What Aristotle did differently was abandon the systematic definition and look at ethos in a more holistic perspective. Aristotle concluded that ethos adds to the audience’s belief in the speaker, but there is no such thing as a scientific approach to neither ethos nor rhetoric in general.

In his words, rhetoric is “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion” (Atwill, et. al., 1993). Persuasion is often considered to be convincing someone to do something, but it is far greater than that. Sharing an opinion with someone is communicating with the objective of convincing them to agree with the views you offer; or if an emotional story is shared, the goal is for them to be empathetic with the story. Orators are always operating under the art of persuasion, but what makes good persuasion? Importantly, Aristotle situated ethos in relationship to pathos and logos. Pathos is the emotional appeal of rhetoric and logos is the logical, rational appeal. Ethos has the double movement between the audience and the speaker, but logos is centered around the argument, and pathos is centered towards the audience (Varpio, 2018). While any of the three appeals alone may offer a surface-level argument, the appeals assist each other in communicating a persuasive argument.

In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the modes through which we communicate have evolved, giving more people a voice in the public sphere. Therefore, the appeal of ethos must be revisited and reevaluated. Scholars of rhetoric should now consider how technology is playing a role in how ethos is conveyed. One of the most popular contexts for sharing and spreading information and ideas is the internet, but a common challenge with this medium is assessing the credibility of the author and the content posted. Over time, there are certain qualities and characteristics that have become new denotations of whether or not something is credible online. First is how popular the content is and in how many spheres it is being discussed, such as if other people are sharing their words throughout social media. In a way, this can denote credibility because their content has been largely circulated and suggests a large audience for the authors ideas and ideologies. Likewise, the abundance of posts regarding such an event lends its credibility, even when the content may be incorrect. Second, technology is lending individuals ethos in new ways.  Some groups and individuals are marked as credible when one visits their online page. For example, platforms such as Twitter or Instagram will place a small blue “check mark” next to the person’s name, in order to denote authenticity. Another determinant of credibility has been equated with the number of followers a particular account has – the more followers the better. While the sites themselves can denote someone as credible with their own signifiers, viewers must still act upon their own judgement to determine the credibility of some sources.

A third way to assess ethos is how technology is reshaping authorship and peer review. Websites would appear as though they are reviewed and enhanced in trustworthiness, but would leave many of the things posted on their site up to its readers, namely Wikipedia. Wikipedia was somewhere you could go to get base-level information, but one would always have to follow up with another source. This has evolved as they have more editors working on pages, which has enhanced the site’s credibility.  Nevertheless, how might one determine credible and ethical answers on a page that is mostly contributed by anonymous readers and posters? The concept of “peer review” has evolved – to the like button. If you go to a site such as Yahoo Answers to search a question, the answer with the most likes will appear at the top, and that is deemed to be the most credible response. The “like” button on almost any site has transformed the internet, for good and for bad, but for our purposes, the “like” button is now one of the determinants as to whether or not a particular poster has used the appeal of ethos.

A fourth way to assess ethos is how technology is creating social change. There are plenty of people and organizations who gain their reliability through frequent and well-received posts on social media. Just as social movements have been started in the past by public conversation, this continues in the online world. The preservation of rhetoric in online contexts is what allows some social movements to gain momentum and credibility (Happe, 2017). There have been a number of social movements that have gained momentum  in the online world, such as #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, Occupy Wall Street, and the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The credibility of these movements is largely created and supported through the quantity of support that it receives across all social media platforms. The Me Too movement originated in the early 2000’s by Tarana Burke, but it gained momentum rapidly in 2017. Actress Alyssa Milano used Twitter to share the idea: 

If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet. pic.twitter.com/k2oeCiUf9n

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) October 15, 2017

It is a common misconception that ethos is an ancient topic, but it is ever-changing as the ways in which we communicate are changing. Ethos encompasses not only the credibility of the speaker but also their character, as it is holistic just as all three of the appeals. Ethos also shapes individuals and communities, as it is present in all realms of rhetoric. Ethos is crucial to the fundamental aspects and principles of rhetoric, and therefore should be properly revisited just as Aristotle refined the work of scholars before him.

See Also: Buzzword, Identification, Kairos, Truth

Works Cited

Alyssa_Milano. (2017, October 15). If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted, write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet. https://twitter.com/Alyssa_Milano/status/919659438700670976

Atwill, Janet M., Kennedy, George A., “On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 44, no. 1, 1993, p. 93., doi:10.2307/358900.

Baumlin, J. S., & Meyer, C. A. (2018). Positioning Ethos in/for the Twenty-First Century: An Introduction to Histories of Ethos. Humanities, 7(78), 1-26. Retrieved April 8, 2019.

Bowdon, Melody A (2013). “Tweeting an Ethos: Emergency Messaging, Social Media, and Teaching Technical Communication.” Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 23, no. 1, 2013, pp. 35–54., doi:10.1080/10572252.2014.850853.

Corder, Jim W. (1978). Varieties of Ethical Argument, With Some Account of the Significance of Ethos in the Teaching of Composition. Freshman English News 6: 1–23.


Happe, Maggie (2017). “Mastering Social Media Rhetoric.” AlleyWatch, 13 Feb. 2017, www.alleywatch.com/2016/01/ethos-pathos-logos-social-media-rhetoric/.

Harris, Aisha (2018). “She Founded Me Too. Now She Wants to Move Past the Trauma.” The New York Times, 15 Oct. 2018, p. C1.

Linden, Sander van der (2017). “The Surprisingly Short Life of Viral Social Movements.” Scientific American, 15 Feb. 2017, www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-surprisingly-short-life-of-viral-social-movements/.

Sattler, W. M. (1947). Conceptions of ethos in ancient rhetoric*. Speech Monographs, 14(1-2), 55-65. doi:10.1080/03637754709374925