Whenever we speak of the pathos of persuasion, though the word itself has reference, roughly, to one’s emotional state, we are thinking much more broadly than just how those to whom we speak might feel.26 When we think of pathos, we are interested in a proper and personal understanding of those to whom we speak. In persuasion, it is the task of the speaker properly to construe his audience, with a view toward communication that is “adequate to the occasion.”
