towards sharper visualization. In Ong’s words (p. 168): “This 
increased sophistication in visual presentation is not restricted, 
of course, to Ramist writings, but is part of the evolution of 
typography, showing clearly how the use of printing moved the 
word away from its original association with sound and treated 
it more and more as a ‘thing’ in space.”

     Ong makes the extremely important point (p. 169) that 
the Ramist hostility to Aristotle was based on his 
incompatibility with print culture:

     In manuscripts, diagrams are much more laborious 
     productions than straight text, for manuscript copying 
     only with great difficulty controls the position of material 
     on the page. Typographical reproduction controls it 
     automatically and inevitably. . . . If Ramus did indeed