Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion is a book written by author Jay Heinrichs, and the first edition was published in 2007 and soon afterward was followed by revised and updated editions containing more information and things to help one in their path to persuasion. Heinrichs was born in the year 1956 and worked 25 years as a journalist and publishing executive later on he decided to dedicate himself to the study of ancient and modern rhetoric. He is currently married to Dorothy Behlen Heinrichs and has two children who are mentioned lots of times in his book. Thank You for Arguing tries to teach us the forgotten art of persuasion through the using of ethos, pathos and logos
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As Heinrichs states, “Rhetoric faded in academia during the 1800’s, when social scientists dismissed the notion that an individual could stand up to the inexorable forces of history” (5) in other words, rhetoric faded out as people didn’t quite believe they could make a change or believe they could lead a cause. The purpose of this book is to firstly help people see that argument surrounds their everyday lives and that it's virtually inescapable. Secondly it helps the reader in mastering the art of persuasion to dominate the playing field and the everyday aspects of their life from their work to their relationships (family, friends, or shall we say their significant other). Thirdly it also introduces the faults that many make during any argument that present themselves such as bad decorum or lack of ethos, pathos, and logos. The strategy employed most by Heinrichs is Aristotle’s three tools which are ethos ( argument by character), logos (argument by logic), and pathos (argument by emotion) these all connect with other aspects given in later chapters and are always somehow brought up in the book. An example of this in use or more specifically one of these in use is on page 103, where Heinrichs gives the reader one of the many forms of pathos …show more content…
The chapter gives us seven logical errors made by people when trying to argue with logos as their weapon of choice. Heinrichs goes on to list them as follows: The False Comparison, The Bad Example, Ignorance as Proof, The Tautology, and The False Choice. They all give the reader logical errors one must avoid as to not lose the upper hand against their opponent, logic can help one gain the upper hand as most arguments made in the present day rely more on ethos and pathos rather than using logos to either confuse opponents into submission or just making them look stupid. Heinrichs conveys this information to the audience by giving us many examples of logical errors starting with the one consumers have fallen for through time, “Made with all natural ingredients” (147), he goes on to explain how many man made products include a small portion of natural products and an abundance of chemicals and artificial flavors. The Bad Example is introduced to us with two ways it's represented with the first being misinterpreting the evidence and the second being hasty generalization, sometimes people use examples to support their own desires or preferences when they both don’t go together, and the hasty generalization refers to the lack of examples to
As Heinrichs states, “Rhetoric faded in academia during the 1800’s, when social scientists dismissed the notion that an individual could stand up to the inexorable forces of history” (5) in other words, rhetoric faded out as people didn’t quite believe they could make a change or believe they could lead a cause. The purpose of this book is to firstly help people see that argument surrounds their everyday lives and that it's virtually inescapable. Secondly it helps the reader in mastering the art of persuasion to dominate the playing field and the everyday aspects of their life from their work to their relationships (family, friends, or shall we say their significant other). Thirdly it also introduces the faults that many make during any argument that present themselves such as bad decorum or lack of ethos, pathos, and logos. The strategy employed most by Heinrichs is Aristotle’s three tools which are ethos ( argument by character), logos (argument by logic), and pathos (argument by emotion) these all connect with other aspects given in later chapters and are always somehow brought up in the book. An example of this in use or more specifically one of these in use is on page 103, where Heinrichs gives the reader one of the many forms of pathos …show more content…
The chapter gives us seven logical errors made by people when trying to argue with logos as their weapon of choice. Heinrichs goes on to list them as follows: The False Comparison, The Bad Example, Ignorance as Proof, The Tautology, and The False Choice. They all give the reader logical errors one must avoid as to not lose the upper hand against their opponent, logic can help one gain the upper hand as most arguments made in the present day rely more on ethos and pathos rather than using logos to either confuse opponents into submission or just making them look stupid. Heinrichs conveys this information to the audience by giving us many examples of logical errors starting with the one consumers have fallen for through time, “Made with all natural ingredients” (147), he goes on to explain how many man made products include a small portion of natural products and an abundance of chemicals and artificial flavors. The Bad Example is introduced to us with two ways it's represented with the first being misinterpreting the evidence and the second being hasty generalization, sometimes people use examples to support their own desires or preferences when they both don’t go together, and the hasty generalization refers to the lack of examples to