Peter Ramus (1515-1572) had relegated rhetoric basically to the canons of style, delivery, and memory. Invention and arrangement were not rhetorical in nature. He was a transitional figure, very much a part of the Renaissance, who respected the newly discovered ancients and at the same time did not fear criticizing the ancients, especially ancient rhetoric.

Science was gaining in importance and would be the model rhetoric where language and perspicuity fit perfectly together. Words in scientific discourse become transparent and the truth they represent become clearly visible.

Thus, reality and human ingenuity create and expand our use of language; however, Jacques Derrida, in the twentieth century, deconstructs this "logocentrism" and contends that language creates reality.