David Dobbler
English 1000
Donish
October 9th, 2018
Rhetorical Analysis
Religion has always been in a touchy subject. This often makes it difficult to convey
messages involving faith, especially when the message may hint at the fact that a God may not
actually exist. In an interview with CBS, Neil deGrasse Tyson is asked, “Do you believe in
god?” Tyson, a world renowned astrophysicists known for his public speaking and television
shows where he discusses philosophical topics such as parallel universes or alternate realities,
has often talked about his views on god, but has never fully revealed whether he believes or not.
After the question is asked, Tyson says that the more he studies the universe, the more he
becomes less convinced that there is something benevolent going on. He goes on to talk about
how most people would describe god as all good and all powerful. But if you look at nature, a
product of god’s creations, there are natural disasters and things like disease, birth defects and
other natural causes that can make life miserable. Tyson then goes on to beg the question that if
there is a god, then he is either not all good or not all powerful. This would mean that all
preconceived notions about religion would be misguided. Tyson then goes on to say that there
can never be any true evidence of a religion, that is why they are called faiths. You have to
believe that it is true without ever actually seeing any evidence. Tyson closes off the interview
by saying, “…but it’s not about me. It’s about the real world”. In a two minute interview, Tyson
is able to convey a powerful message about the how people should view religion through the use
of rhetorical appeals such as ethos, logos and pathos. Each appeal provides unique aspects that
strengthen Tyson’s argument that people should reconsider the way they look at God.
Throughout the interview, the most common use of a rhetorical appeal is Logos. Logos
refers to the use of logic and rational thinking to convey a certain message. Viewers can look at
an artifact such as this interview, and use the information in it to hopefully come to a conclusion
based on factual evidence. In the interview, Tyson talks about how most people view god as a
being who is all good and all powerful. He specifically says, “So if your concept of a creator is
someone who is all powerful and all good, and then look at disasters that afflict life on earth;
volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, disease, pestanlants, congenital birth defects. You
look at this list of ways that life is made miserable on earth by natural causes. I just ask, how do
you deal with that? So philosophers rose up and said, so if there is a god, then god is either not
all powerful, or not all good” (Neil deGrasse Tyson on God 0:25-0:50). Tyson is appealing to
logos by using rational thinking to inform people that maybe, they have the wrong perception of
what God is. He is saying that most religions view God as an individual who is...
