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The contemporary debate on democracy shows two points of view: the "deliberative" one and the "agonistic" one. The first one is related to the classical tradition that considers Habermas as its reference point. It emphasizes the role of rational deliberation as a means to produce a legitimate and binding consensus. In contrast, the second one draws its inspiration from C. Schmitt, and considers conflict and disagreement as unavoidable conditions of democratic life. Despite their obvious differences, these two theoretical models have a conception of rhetoric in common that is subjected to, or at least excluded from, the full exercise of argumentative rationality. We propose an interpretation of rhetoric that includes the logical-argumentative dimension in the rhetorical domain is possible. In this way, the recovery of rhetoric, considered both as a practice and as a theory of persuasive speech, may shed light on the role of discursive processes in building consensus, and thus may allow a revision of the dialectical tension between the pairs of concepts that the debate tends to focus on: normative/descriptive, rational/irrational, agreement/conflict.

Fin da quando è balzato agli onori della cronaca ed ha suscitato l'interesse degli studiosi , il fenomeno della post-verità ha ricevuto due principali interpretazioni. Alcuni hanno osservato che in esso non c'è nulla di realmente nuovo; altri, al contrario, hanno sottolineato la stretta relazione tra postmodernismo e post-verità. Come è stato di recente sostenuto da Lee McIntyre (2018: 11): «If one looks at the Oxford definition, and how all of this has played out in recent public debate, one gets the sense that post-truth is not so much a claim that truth does not exist as that facts are subordinate to our political point of view» (2018: 11, corsivo originale). Partendo da questa specifica ipotesi - la rilevanza della nozione di post-verità per la sfera pubblica e la sua specifica connotazione politica - cercheremo in primo luogo di ricostruire il più ampio contesto in cui il fenomeno della post-verità si inserisce poiché esso ci aiuterà a definire meglio la sua natura. In seguito, cercheremo di mostrare che, a differenza di quanto si potrebbe ritenere, questo contesto richiede più (e non meno) retorica.

In a previous study we evaluated the microbiological quality of water of seven pools in the city of Palermo through evaluation of bacterial indicators of faecal contamination and of protozoa (Giardia and Cryptosporidium). In this study we also searched for the presence of fungi in two swimming pools of a public swimming facility in the same city. Samples were collected from both pools, their filtration systems and floor surfaces of the facility. Chemical-physical and microbiological examination of water of the two pools have shown that quality of water depends on the concentration of residual free chlorine and on the number of bathers in the pool. The values of four microbiological parameters (bacterial load at 22 degrees C and 36 degrees C, presence of coagulase-negative Staphylococci and Pseudomonas spp.) increased with diminishing chlorine concentrations and with increasing number of pool users. Faecal bacteria, Giardia and Cryptosporidium were not found. On the other hand, various fungi were isolated from floor surfaces and pool water even in the presence of optimal chlorine concentrations. This study confirms the importance of regular maintenance of pool disinfection systems and suggests the need to search for other micro-organisms not included in the current legislation (Giardia, Cryptosporidium and fungi).