This essay begins with the study of ancient rhetoric to develop some philosophical reflections on which to base a historical reconstruction that will lead us, through the various definitions of rhetoric and all its practical, ethical, social and political implications, to the world of today, where we will find the cue to question the more or less rhetorical languages developed within the democracies and the so-called populisms that characterize the West – or rather, what remains of it. Erasmo Silvio Storace graduated in Philosophy at the University of Milan under the supervision of Alfredo Marini and Carlo Sini, and obtained his PhD at the University of Palermo. He is currently studying Political Philosophy at the University of Insubria in Varese-Como, where he is a Researcher (RtdB). He has published several monographs, articles and collections of essays, including: “I linguaggi politici della civiltà occidentale. Retorica, democrazia e populismo” (2016); “Dante filosofo, Dante politico. Percorsi sull’immaginario della Divina Commedia” (2016); “La civiltà occidentale e l’identità europea. Studi di filosofia politica” (2017, 20192), “Martin Heidegger. Tra filosofia e politica” (2020) and “Corpo individuo Identità. Scritti di filosofia e simbolica politica” (2020).