This volume edited by Eddo Rigotti with the collaboration of Sara Cigada assembles papers presented at an international conference held at the University of Lugano in April 1997. From a variety of perspectives the papers address the question of meaning in argumentation, a phenomenon that has come to be regarded as belonging to the domain of rhetoric. Special attention is given to the connections between rhetoric, argumentation and reason as brought to light by the analysis of written and oral texts.