Logos, ethos, and pathos

David Cameron focuses on all three forms of appeal in his Speech on Radicalization, Islamic Extremism, and the Failure of State Multiculturalism. Each form of appeal has a different effect on the audience and, combined, they help Cameron deliver a complex speech on urgent issues.

Logos

First, Cameron appeals to logos when he uses logical reasoning to support his ideas. At the beginning of his speech, he distinguishes between Islam – as a religion – and Islamic extremism – as a toxic ideology that leads to terrorism: “Islam is a religion observed peacefully and devoutly by over a billion people. Islamist extremism is a political ideology supported by a minority…”. Distinguishing between the two concepts helps Cameron structure his ideas in a way that suggests societies should oppose extreme ideology, not religion. 

Then, Cameron appeals to logos when he uses explicit argumentation to express his ideas. For example, he uses explicit argumentation when he claims that solving the issues in the Middle East does not mean that Islamic extremism is going to disappear: “Even if we sorted out all of the problems that I have mentioned, there would still be this terrorism. I believe the root lies in the...