La retorica del paradosso: dilemmi e argomentazioni a doppio legame nella De provinciis consularibus di Cicerone

The purpose of this contribution is to investigate the use of some paradoxical argumentative strategies in the context of the Ciceronian oration De provinciis consularibus, on the one hand highlighting their correspondence with the specific degree of credibility of the cause, on the other making its pragmatic implications explicit. The use of some theories of the Palo Alto school will make it possible to identify, on the basis of some of its assumptions, the characteristics that unite the dilemma with argumentative strategies that share its paradoxical logic and persuasive effects. One will therefore try to show how in the De provinciis consularibus the presence of the paradox – in its different forms – represents, rather than as a stylistic veil, the most suitable form to convey a strategy that puts the audience in front of the false crossroads of an obligated choice.