The writing of
Heraclitus () was the first place where the word
logos was given special attention in
ancient Greek philosophy, although Heraclitus seems to use the word with a meaning not significantly different from the way in which it was used in ordinary Greek of his time. For Heraclitus,
logos provided the link between rational discourse and the world's rational structure. What
logos means here is not certain; it may mean "reason" or "explanation" in the sense of an objective cosmic law, or it may signify nothing more than "saying" or "wisdom". Yet, an independent existence of a universal
logos was clearly suggested by Heraclitus. Following one of the other meanings of the word,
Aristotle gave
logos a different technical definition in the
Rhetoric, using it as meaning argument from reason, one of the three
modes of persuasion. The other two modes are
pathos (, ), which refers to persuasion by means of emotional appeal, "putting the hearer into a certain frame of mind"; and
ethos (, ), persuasion through convincing listeners of one's "moral character". In the words of Paul Rahe:
Logos,
pathos, and
ethos can all be appropriate at different times. Arguments from reason (logical arguments) have some advantages, namely that
data are (ostensibly) difficult to manipulate, so it is harder to argue against such an argument. On the other hand, trust in the speaker—built through
ethos—enhances the appeal of arguments from reason.
Robert Wardy suggests that what Aristotle rejects in supporting the use of
logos "is not emotional appeal
per se, but rather emotional appeals that have no 'bearing on the issue', in that the
pathē [, ] they stimulate lack, or at any rate are not shown to possess, any intrinsic connection with the point at issue—as if an advocate were to try to whip an
antisemitic audience into a fury because the accused is Jewish; or as if another in drumming up support for a politician were to exploit his listeners's reverential feelings for the politician's ancestors". Aristotle comments on the three modes by stating: {{Poemquote|text= Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. The first kind depends on the personal character of the speaker; the second on putting the audience into a certain frame of mind; the third on the proof, or apparent proof, provided by the words of the speech itself.
Stoic philosophy began with
Zeno of Citium , in which the
logos was the active
reason pervading and animating the
Universe. It was conceived as material and is usually identified with
God or
Nature. The Stoics also referred to the
seminal logos ("
logos spermatikos"), or the law of generation in the Universe, which was the principle of the active reason working in inanimate
matter. Humans, too, each possess a portion of the divine
logos. The Stoics took all activity to imply a
logos or spiritual principle. As the operative principle of the world, the
logos was
anima mundi to them, a concept which later influenced
Philo of Alexandria, although he derived the contents of the term from Plato. In his Introduction to the 1964 edition of
Marcus Aurelius'
Meditations, the Anglican priest Maxwell Staniforth wrote that "
Logos ... had long been one of the leading terms of
Stoicism, chosen originally for the purpose of explaining how deity came into relation with the universe". Public discourse on ancient Greek rhetoric has historically emphasized Aristotle's appeals to
logos,
pathos, and
ethos, while less attention has been directed to
Isocrates' teachings about philosophy and
logos, and their partnership in generating an ethical, mindful
polis. Isocrates does not provide a single definition of
logos in his work, but Isocratean
logos characteristically focuses on speech, reason, and civic discourse. He was concerned with establishing the "common good" of
Athenian citizens, which he believed could be achieved through the pursuit of philosophy and the application of
logos. ==In Hellenistic Judaism==