Is Philosophy Literature? Is Literature Philosophy?

This article aims to discuss the relation between Philosophy and Literature. Based on supposed similarities and discrepancies, it is investigated if there is an essential distinction concerning them. For such, some arguments elaborated by Antonio Cicero, on his essay Poesia & Filosofia, are analyzed. Antonio Cicero sustains that philosophical ideas are secondary to the literary composition, whose aesthetic value is acquired by the way those ideas are expressed and not by the ideas themselves. Moreover, in Philosophy, the act of writing is no more than an instrument to convey the philosophical thought. This instrumental role of discourse in philosophical works allows us to shed new light into Pierre Harlot's conception of Philosophy as essentially a way of life. Thus, it will be proposed that the distinction between Philosophy and Literature should be rethought at a level that is deeper than the discursive one, as suggested by Antonio Cicero. The representation of Philosophy as a way of life indicates that the distinction between Philosophy and Literature is not a case of how each one articulates their levels of content and expression. Actually, it concerns the peculiar role of discourse in both of them. Some ultimate considerations on the very nature of the philosopher and of the writer or poet as well follow that existential distinction.