Non solo sillogismo. Per una lettura retorica dell’entimema aristotelico

The article proposes a reading of the Aristotelian enthymeme starting from the pre-Aristotelian tradition. The basic idea is that the pre-Aristotelian history of enthymeme can help us to highlght the rhetorical aspects of this notion. Indeed, the debate on the Aristotelian enthymeme is mainly focused on the logical aspects, looking for a single defining trait that distinguishes it from other syllogisms. The article follows a different path that seeks to identify a set of specific (not only logical) characterstics of enthymeme. In this way, it is possible to bring out both the continuity and the differences between the Aristotelian perspective and the previous tradition and, at the same time, to rediscover the original rhetorical nature of enthymeme.