Dialettica e politica da Platone ad Aristotele: il ruolo dell'endossalità nella scienza politica aristotelica

On the basis of the definition of Dialectic given by Aristotle in Topics I, 1, endoxality turns out to be a problem that must be placed at the center of attention by scholars. Through a survey of the characterizations of the endoxa given in the books I and VIII of the Topics and of the use of the endoxic propositions in the Aristotle’s political works, I would like to show that, according to Aristotle, political endoxa are not to be considered exclusively as “thought shared by the majority of the population”, but also as “opinion of the man of value” (the spoudaios or the phronimos), which constitutes the canon for the political choice and action, and therefore the most reliable source of judgments truthful. This characterization of endoxality in Aristotelian philosophy is what allows us to understand the difference between the endoxa of Aristotle and the Platonic evaluation of simple political doxai.