Philosophy:Endoxa

Endoxa (Greek: ἔνδοξα) is the plural of endoxon, deriving from the word doxa (δόξα, meaning "Belief", "opinion"). Plato referred to doxa as the level of apprehension attained when a mind's activity is directed to ta onta or "things" and that the process is independent of perception. Whereas Plato condemned doxa as a starting point from which to attain truth, Aristotle used the term endoxa – in the sense of "commonplace", "everyday", "consensus" – to identify a group or population's beliefs that had previously withstood debate and argument (and were, thereby, more stable than doxa).

In Aristotle's conceptualization, endoxa are opinions that one can agree with after a careful examination of arguments both for and against it, with the former emerging stronger. In the philosopher's explanation of the term in Topics I.1, endoxa was described as having five types: 1) the views of everyone; 2) the views of the preponderant majority; 3) the views of the recognized experts; 4) the views of all the experts; and, 5) the views of the most famous. It is said that endoxa may be plausible but this does not mean that they are true.

Aside from those found in the Topics of the Organon, examples of Aristotle's use of endoxa may also be found in his Rhetoric. Otfried Höffe, translated by Christine Salazar, offers a detailed discussion of the topic in "Aristotle" (2003; pp. 35–42).

See also

• Common sense