- 17th–18th centuries
- Move away from Ramus's rationalist deduction toward empirical induction
- Perspicuity (plain, clear speech) is valued, particularly by scientists (like the Royal Society)
- Senecan style (ostensibly desrcriptive) vs Ciceroian style (ostensibly generative)
- Empiricists championed the former, Augustans (sometimes called neoclassicals) the latter.
- Augustans were folks like Pope and Dryden in poetry, Swift and Addison in prose.
- An interest in trying to find basic human capabilities (including proto-psychological aspects)
- mental faculties
- universal traits
- universal grammar
- Various themes in rhetoric during this period
- Resistance to contemporary developments, continued adherence to Ciceronian rhetoric
- The belles lettres movement
- inception of literary criticism of history and poetry
- Move toward perspicuity in response to calls for purified language
- Connection with emerging psychological theories to create a basis for scientific persuasion
- The elocution movement (delivery, gesture, correct pronunciation)
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