The Philosophical Value of Rhetoric: A Gorgianic and Aristotelian Heritage

Abstract

This paper analyzes the philosophical value of rhetoric by placing the Gorgianic and Aristotelian traditions - typicallyseen in contrast - in a different theoretical framework. According to our interpretation, rhetoric can be considered as an“anthropology of logos”, by offering a reinterpretation of the human as the being who possesses logos and lives in thepolis. In this perspective, we highlight rhetoric’s contribution to contemporary philosophical debates on truth, the inter-play between cognition and emotion, and the role of conflict in public discourse. This vision diverges from traditionallogocentric or anthropocentric models as well as from current post-humanist perspectives.