In the last few decades there has been much scholarly dispute about the 'demise' or the 'ongoing survival' of rhetoric in the 18th century. A consensus has yet to be achieved. The author attempts to resolve the issue by adopting a novel theoretical approach elucidated in the first part of this study. Here, the history of rhetoric is regarded as a debate between various conflicting concepts of rhetoric. Against this background, the extensive second section of the book discusses the central stages in a history of the theory of rhetoric, with reference to a period extending from around 1600 to 1800.