On the Alleged Epitome of Dialectic: Nicomachean Ethics vii 1.1145b2-7

A methodological statement that occurs at Nicomachean Ethics vii 1 and its implementation in the subsequent discussion has widely been called as ‘the method of endoxa’. According to a standard interpretation the method of endoxa follows some strict steps and is the paradigm of the dialectical method. I question this interpretation and argue for a deflationary and non-dialectical account which, I believe, conforms with Aristotle’s scientifically oriented general methodological program.