The eikos between Logic and Rhetoric. A Comparison between Aristotle and the Rhetorica ad Alexandrum.

Abstract

The paper proposes a comparison between the Aristotelian concept of eikos and that which is found in the Rhetorica ad Alexandrum. The aim is to shed light upon both the differences between the two perspectives and their relative continuity in relation to the prior tradition. The basic assumption is that the rhetorical notion of eikos has theoretical worth and many philosophical questions revolve around it. The boundary between philosophy and rhetoric is much less defined than what a long tradition has led us to believe.