Reinventing the Plot: J.C. Gottsched's Sterbender Cato

J.C. Gottsched's emphasis on Aristotelian plot, though perhaps the key theoretical accomplishment of its author, is most often viewed as a juvenile misunderstanding. The examination of its science-historical dimension shows that Gottsched's interpretation is neither arbitrary nor crudely simplistic, but rather a coherent interpretation of the notion. Gottsched's prepsychological exegesis is representative of its era and is understood here as an important precursor of the modern notion.