La forma dell'élenchos

Elenchus is the argumentative method whereby human thought experiences the transcendentality of being and its aspects. This article seeks to revisit the classic method of argumentation, known as elenchus, in order to explicitly consider its pragmatic dimensions. Élenchus is the complete realization of performative contradiction, in which those who intend to deny transcendental structures simultaneously undermine themselves. Such dynamics is implicated in both the actual negation of the transcendental structures and the verbal denial of such structures. The position expressed in this article is subsequently compared with two authoritative positions: Emanuele Severino and Sergio Galvan. The first - in his more mature thought - tends to reduce elenchus to a simple case of reductio ad absurdum. The second establishes a “elenctic calculus“ in order to demonstrate that elenchus does not permit a logical-formal argument. Both, however, do not consider the pragmatic aspect of elenchus - and, therefore, its fundamental peculiarity.