In Inherit the Wind (1960), a sequence of questions tests Brady’s assertions, showing how logos can be used to test claims.
Establishing Shot
Logos refers to the use of reasoning to examine and support claims, drawing on statements that a community accepts as probable or reasonable. In Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students, Sharon Crowley and Debra Hawhee explain that rhetorical arguments proceed by relating such statements, or premises, to one another so that conclusions can be inferred from them.1 Arguments from logos are grounded in what the rhetor’s audience will accept as likely or plausible.2 As a result, logos is used to establish a claim’s validity through the demonstration that a claim follows from shared assumptions. It operates as a method of inquiry, testing whether an argument can hold when its premises are examined and tested.
Key Scene
The 1960 film Inherit the Wind, based on the play of the same name, is inspired by the trial of a teacher accused of teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution in violation of state law. Barred from calling his planned witnesses, defense attorney Henry Drummond calls prosecutor Matthew Harrison Brady to the stand and begins questioning him about his interpretation of the Bible. As the scene progresses, Brady becomes frustrated by his inability to counter Drummond’s argument.
Framing
In this portion of the exchange, Drummond introduces a rock, suggesting its age is inconsistent with a literal reading of Genesis. He uses it to begin a sequence of questions that expands from a single detail to broader issues of time and interpretation. Rather than offering a counterclaim, he asks Brady to account for the implications of his own position, moving from explanation to assertion as the questions accumulate. Each premise appears reasonable on its own, but together they expose the limits of Brady’s position, grounded in authority alone. By the time Drummond suggests that the Bible is not the only book, logos has already introduced doubt, shifting Brady’s credibility from reputation to his ability to sustain his claims under examination.
Continuity
Logos works alongside ethos and pathos to shape how arguments are received. Brady enters the courtroom with strong ethos, grounded in reputation, and supported by the crowd’s admiration. As Drummond’s questioning proceeds, that credibility becomes contingent on Brady’s ability to respond. As his reasoning falters, his ethos weakens, as underscored by the movement of the camera in the scene. The atmosphere in the court shifts from support of Brady to discomfort with his frustration, demonstrating how pathos follows the success or failure of logos. The scene shows that credibility is not fixed, but must be able to withstand scrutiny, and that emotional responses follow the effectiveness of an argument under examination.
Stakes
Logos provides a means of evaluating claims before accepting them. In public argument – law, politics, science, and religion – appeals to authority or emotion may persuade, but they do not establish whether a claim can withstand scrutiny. By testing whether conclusions follow from their premises, logos introduces a standard for judgment. Because rhetorical reasoning operates in the realm of probability rather than certainty, it enables judgments about what is most reasonable given shared beliefs and available evidence.3
Passion Project
I first encountered logos in practice when I learned that persuasive language alone wasn’t sufficient in academic writing. In high school, I could make an argument sound convincing, but that approach failed when teachers asked how each claim supported my thesis. I began to see that an argument was a structure, not a series of impressions, and that each claim depended on what came before it. Logos became a way of testing my own thinking, not just presenting it.
Notes
- Crowley, Sharon, and Debra Hawhee. Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students. 5th ed., Pearson, 2011.
- Crowley and Hawhee, Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students.
- Crowley and Hawhee, Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students.