This dissertation aims to describe and analysis the use of argumentation and rhetorical analysis for the development, critique and comprehension of pedagogical theories, focusing on the work of Tarso Mazzotti. Bibliographical research was undertaken, concentrating on the work of this philosopher of education and his principal ideas on the use of argumentation and rhetorical analysis. The texts analysed range from The scientific status of pedagogy, originally published in 1996, to the publication, in 2008, of his book Pedagogical doctrines: dispute-producing machines. The first chapter of this dissertation describes the central ideas, while the second chapter analyses three central aspects of the ideas presented in the previous chapter: the organization of pedagogical theories around metaphors; the validation process of pedagogical theories; and the function and limits of rhetorical analysis applied to pedagogical theories. The conclusion reinforces the utility of argumentative processes and the need to consider rhetorical analysis as one of the instruments for the critique of pedagogical theories.