摘要
This paper issues a highly controversial point: is there possible that a concept of &revolution* can legitimize the historical revolutionary action and, if yes, how could this be possible? This debate on revolution is a subsequent part of a larger puzzle: the hermeneutics of the historical fact. Roughly explained, the concept of &revolution* is the major piece of a *revolutionary rhetoric,* which generates the interpretation of the historical fact. Samples are offered by means of the concept of &revolution* issued by modern historiography. The case focuses on three main parts: a brief debate on the concept of &revolution* viewed by the apologists of the French Revolution and their adversaries; a critique of Marx*s and Lenin*s ideology of revolution; finally, an illustration of a rhetorical dismantle of &revolution* at hand in Kenneth Burke*s comments on Marxist &revolution.*