Ethical responsibilities in Ethos and Pathos

An author has many ethical responsibilities when it comes to Ethos and Pathos. An Authors job is to connect to a reader in an emotional (pathos) way or in an ethical (Ethos) way. In order to do this the author must understand the different points of view that his argument can have. In order to be ethical the author must address the ethical and emotional issues that the reader may have in regard to the argument. 

Ethical responsibilities play a major role when it comes to the emotions of a reader. An author must be sensitive to the fact that each reader may have various emotions in regard to the problem that the author is addressing. It is only right to understand all views of a problem to argue and address it. 

There are also many responsibilities when it come to Ethos. It is important to show that you can empathize with the opposite side of your argument. This allows the reader to see that the author is ethical and that the author is sympathizing with their point of view. By sympathizing with the readers ethics the author is also making their own argument stronger. The author should also be ethical when it comes to putting down a readers opposing view. 

Many times our media and our government do not live up to these ethical expectations. The media is simply looking for a story which exposes a person or a group of people. They do not think about the effect their story will have on these groups of people. The government and media often only think about one side of a story, they hardly ever express a view and an opposing view. This is true because the media and the government want you to believe what they believe and to know nothing else. Ethical responsibility plays a major role in arguments and should be expressed in our media and government.