It is interesting to note that while Perelman rejects all absolute and dogmatic ideas, he also does not support absolute relativism. While rejecting the existence of absolute truth, it constitutes a method for enlightened practical activities. Truth is only the process of approaching it. Perelman continously repeats that a fact cannot live autonomously. A fact without the power of reason behind it cannot survive by itself.
Rhetoric favours reasonable compromises that are instruments and generators of further evolution.
The statement that facts do not speak for themselves has obvious ethical implications. Demonstration employs a formal language or imitates one. Argumentation uses and is expressly based on human language which is intrinsically ambiguous. Demonstration is a way of forcing the right conclusion. Argumentation aims for adherence to a certain statement or belief through a rational and reciprocal reasoning process.