Mahatma Gandhi Ethos

Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most iconic revolutionary figures of all time. This iconic figure received worldwide fame by attacking British-ruled India while abiding by his moral codes of peace. He was never known for being financially affluent, but was widely embraced for his focus on moral growth. Through his ability to appeal to his audience’s credibility, emotion, and logic Gandhi was able to connect with them effectively. In Mahatma Gandhi’s speech, “Economic and Moral Progress,” he applies Aristotle’s modes of persuasion of ethos, pathos, and logos to support his thesis about the significance of moral progress over economic growth. Gandhi uses ethos when he succeeds in gaining credibility from the audience during his introduction …show more content…
Let us seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and the irrevocable promise is that everything will be added to us. These are real economics.
When Gandhi reveals his definition of economics, he gains credibility for intertwining the aspects of economics with morality. The iconic figure uses pathos by appealing to the audience’s emotions by stating, “I hold that economic progress in the sense I have put it is antagonistic to real progress.” Gandhi’s audience is filled with men seeking economic growth, however, the audience is filled with a sense of regret and insecurity amongst themselves. The audience will then ask themselves, when your desires put your morals in jeopardy, do you continue to chase them? When ideas such as that get placed in the minds of individuals, it causes them reevaluate themselves. Gandhi continued to speak about economic growth and the possible effects it may have in the afterlife. He stated, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Bible) Gandhi impacted the audience’s emotions from a religious and ethnical standpoint throughout his argument. When he intertwined the two quotes, the audience becomes heavily impacted …show more content…
Gandhi starts off by discussing the downfall of Rome, one of the most notorious empires in history. He states, “Rome suffered a moral fall when it attained high material affluence.” Gandhi used Rome as his first example because the Roman Empire fell due to the consequences of economic growth. The Roman Empire suffered from political corruption, over expanding, and over-reliance on slave labor. A few other examples are given about empires and people who fell because of economic growth. In the end, Gandhi’s examples implicated how economic growth had a negative impact on society's morals. After establishing the fall of nations, he discussed religious figures that impacted the world. Gandhi stated names such as, “Jesus, Mahomed, Buddha, Nanak, Kabir, Chaitanya, Sankara, Dayanand, Ramakrishna,” and in the names he has listed, they all lived frugal lives. Every religious figure mentioned is worshiped by millions around the world, but materialistic ideologies have never been a part of their thought process. When Gandhi refers back to historical events and key figures in humanity, it appeals to the audience’s