THE RHETORIC OF ACTION. A REFLECTION ON PLATO’S GORGIAS*

Abstract

This paper will attempt to comment on the tension between politics andphilosophy in the Platonic dialogue Gorgias. The aim is to ground thisdiscussion through an analysis of the character of Callicles who plays therole of sparring partner as it were, testing and challenging Socrates’ positingof philosophy as an end in itself and the best life, and not as a preparationand cultivation for the life of action. The mimetic exchange between Socratesand Callicles stems from their common experience as erotic men. Socrateswill try to elaborate his teaching upon this shared sense of longing. ButCallicles is reluctant. As we will see he grows impatient with Socrates and atsome point refuses to converse, or even listen: his motivation for an activelife animates him, and for this he will need not only courage, but alsophronesis, a political prudence that he aspires to learn from Gorgias, histeacher.