The debate concerning the History of Madness (1961), is one of the most important discussions of the contemporary French philosophy. In this debate, there are involved radical ways of interpreting the philosophical discourse. Focusing on two aspects of this argument (the rhetorical perspective and the performative perspective), the article places the debate on a point of crucial difference: Descartes's acceptance or rejection of skepticism. The acceptance or rejection would suppose the exclusion-or the conversion-of the example of the madness in the first Meditation. This essay connect crucial points between the texts analyzed to a higher context. Concerning Jacques Derrida, connections are established between rhetoric, pedagogy and scholar philosophical discipline. Concerning Michel Foucault, links are proposed between pragmatic, pedagogy, and ascetic tradition.