ey to Socrates’ speech is not that he brought any new information to the table and forces it upon Polus, but rather that he makes simple connections between already established points.Despite his efforts to avoid rhetoric dialogue, Socrates does at times seem quite pushy in his methods. Callicles, seeing his fellow sophists so easily swayed by Socrates’ theories, claims that his language “shows all the extravagance of a regular catch-penny speaker.” He goes onto argue the point that Socrates exploits the semantic differences of language; “If a man speaks the language of convention, you meet him with a question framed in the language of nature.” (482) Socrates never denies the allegations, nor does he have to. Neither his methods, nor his theories are affected by such talk.Callicles’ speech is that of a typical sophist. He raises no questions in his speech, and does not attempt to use logic to prove his points. In the end, Callicles speaks about his own opinions for quite some time, and as his proof, quotes three lines of an ancient poem. That’s not to say that some of Callicles’ theories aren’t valid, just that he does not allow for discussion, and therefore loses a chance to perhaps prove his point to Socrates or the other interlocutors.The last of the Callicles’ speeches is a boldly stated opinion on the right and good way of life. Callicles holds back nothing when he states, “I tell you frankly that natural good and right consist in this, that the man who is going to live as a man ought should encourage his appetites to be as strong as possible . . . and be able by means of his courage and intelligence to satisfy them in all their intensity by providing them with whatever they happen to desire.” (491-2)This speech, unlike others by the interlocutors, has very little rhetoric language. The first paragraph, (quoted above), and the final paragraph, ...
