The study examines gradation as a central mode of 18^th century thought. Originally a structural notion in the natural sciences, gradation underwent a change in the 17^th century to become a major descriptive trope for gradually intensifying patterns of change. As a trope that extends across disciplinary boundaries, gradation became an important aesthetic concept of the period in areas as diverse as rhetoric, aesthetics, dramatic art, and music.

Janine Firges, Universität Konstanz.