Altruism in Society Essay

The great rhetorician, Aristotle, proposed that the persuasiveness of any argument is based on three elements: ethos—the credibility of the speaker, logos—the strength of the argument, and pathos—the communicator’s ability to emotionally move an audience (O’Quinn, 2009). The ethos of an argument is established by the speaker conveying trustworthiness, expertise in the subject, and an appropriate tone towards the audience. The element of logos is concerned with the logical power of the argument and the strategy utilized to present the argument. Lastly, pathos is the way in which the argument is presented. A persuasive argument should use vivid yet simple language, be applicable to the audience, and cite credible facts. Furthermore, Aristotle’s rhetorical elements are closely mirrored by Myers’ (2008) primary ingredients of persuasion: 1) the communicator; 2) the message; 3) how the message is communicated; 4) the audience. In our campaign to bring awareness of the human rights violation of human trafficking, we have sought to utilize both the elements of logos and pathos to convey the seriousness of the situation. The logical power of the argument is built upon the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 and 2003 (TVPA), which stipulates that induced commercial sex, labor, or services is punishable under the law and victims of said induced acts are eligible for government benefits (Human Trafficking, 2008). The subject of human trafficking affords itself its own weight and means of emotional persuasion, but we will seek to utilize the mechanisms of social reciprocity and social responsibility to lend authority to our argument. The persuasiveness of our argument is constructed on: 1) the logical power of our assertions (logos), as built on TVPA and; 2) the weight and means of conveying our argument (pathos), as exemplified through the social mechanisms of social reciprocity and social responsibility. Motivations of Altruistic Behavior Social exchange theory is based on economic exchange theory, which posits that people participate in an exchange because of the belief that the reward will justify the cost (Liao, 2008). In the realm of economics, monetary costs and rewards direct an exchange; however, in social psychology the currency of social capital is bartered in order to maximize rewards and minimize costs, both internally and externally. The altruistic notions of social norms are concerned with the way our lives ought to be lived and the reasonable prescription of proper behavior (Myers, 2008). Social Reciprocity The reciprocal norm of altruistic social behavior explains that people tend to help, rather than hurt, those that help them. The process is circular because social capital is invested in the future prediction of reimbursed dividends. Conversely, a person can be on the receiving end of social reciprocity and the dividends are expected to be paid in return. On a practical level, the institution of TVPA mandates the cessation of human trafficking through the investment of both social and monetary capital up front and predicts the future payment of dividends. In other words, transgressors will discontinue human trafficking if capital is invested initially and reciprocated thereafter. Social Responsibility The altruistic belief in social responsibility is assembled at the psychological level through the social incentive created when people need help. Nonetheless, the mental representation of social responsibility is mediated by attribution and the consequent emotions elicited. If the person in need of help is perceived to be in the situation because of personal mistakes or neglect, then very little sympathy is produced on the part of the helper—thereby leading to a lack of help. In contrast, if the person in need of help is perceived to be in the situation due to uncontrollable external influences, the sympathy and helping are forthcoming. In the case of human trafficking, the lives of those that are most vulnerable—those that have limited access to social services and protections—are being target because they are defenseless against uncontrollable external forces (Human Trafficking, 2008). Taken collectively, social responsibility dictates that uncontrollable external forces have led to human trafficking and therefore necessitate the introduction of social capital up front in order to facilitate social reciprocity.