Whether and How Classical Topics can be Revived Within Contemporary Argumentation Theory

Abstract

The title of the present paper might sound like a typical many-question fallacy, as it hides, under the form of a double indirect question, two standpoints. Indeed, since both standpoints are declared and as many interrogatives signal their questionable nature, what is hidden is only the relationship between the standpoints. Now, if for a certain aspect, as suggested by the word order too, the meaningfulness of the how presupposes an affirmative answer to the whether, in another perspective, the reasonableness of the whether, that is properly at issue here, totally depends on the how. In other words, my investigation aims to identify the conditions at which classical topics can be retrieved. I start recalling the context of this investigation.