Aristotle’s Nondialectical Inquiry into Friendship in the Eudemian Ethics

abstract: The discussion of friendship in Eudemian Ethics VII is often taken as evidence that Aristotle relies on dialectic in this treatise. I argue that, although he uses some dialectical resources, these are insufficient for fully developing his account of friendship. His approach has four features: the arguments are philosophical, aiming at the nature and truth of friendship; he appeals to phainomena , including both endoxic and non-endoxic claims; resolving aporiai requires substantive philosophical knowledge; and, guided by epistemic optimism, he seeks to preserve what is true in existing beliefs. This contrasts with dialectical argument, which reasons from endoxic premises without aiming at endoxic conclusions.