Del dicho al hecho, o la invalidez del ejemplo: el caso de Gracián

Abstract

For classic rhetoric, the example as well as argumentation are part of the technical evidence that the orator can provide in order to refute his opponent's position. Since the authors of the Ancient World until the end of the Renaissance, the evidential value of the example was not cast doubt on. From that moment onwards, first in Italy and later in Spain, some theoreticians begin to doubt about the validity of the example as a persuasive method when positioning behaviours. Our study focuses on that change in the Spanish literature during the Baroque period, with special emphasis on the works by the Jesuit Baltasar Gracián, who goes through a clear evolution in his theories as far as the example is concerned, above all from the forties of the 17th century onwards.