Question

read the excerpt from the republic by plato. suppose then that we invite him to accompany us in the argument, and then we may hope to show him that there is nothing peculiar in the constitution of women which would affect them in the administration of the state. by all means. let us say to him: come now, and we will ask you a question — when you spoke of a nature gifted or not gifted in any respect, did you mean to say that one man will acquire a thing easily, another with difficulty, a little learning will lead the one to discover a great deal, whereas the other, after much study and application, no sooner learns than he forgets; or again, did you mean, that the one has a body which is a good servant to his mind, while the body of the other is a hindrance to him?—would not these be the sort of differences which distinguish the man gifted by nature from the one who is ungifted? no one will deny that. which type of reasoning or device best supports the speakers claim that women are as qualified as men to manage the state? ethos, because the speaker describes the women he thinks deserve to be leaders; abductive reasoning, because the speaker explains how women make decisions; deductive reasoning, because the speaker provides examples of how women are qualified

Explanation:

Ethos is an appeal to ethics and credibility. Here, the speaker is trying to build credibility for women as leaders by describing the qualities of women he thinks deserve to be leaders. Abductive reasoning is about forming a plausible explanation, which isn't the case here. Deductive reasoning starts from general principles to specific conclusions, which also doesn't match the speaker's approach. The focus is on building the ethical - credibility aspect for women's qualification to manage the state.

Answer:

Ethos, because the speaker describes the women he thinks deserve to be leaders