Ἔνδοξα

Aristotle maintains that a dialectical syllogism is the one that is produced through plausible things.¹ And plausible things are those through which the dialectical syllogism is produced. That is to say, things which seem so to everyone, or to the many, or to the wise people (and among the latter, either to all of them, or to the many, or to those who are especially best known or acknowledged).² And the most important and primary things would be those which are accepted by everyone or by most people. For to all people [it seems] that what is choiceworthy is good and that health, wealth and life are choiceworthy. In fact, those who speak otherwise do not speak because they are disposed in this way but because they are influenced by convention. And they bear witness to these sort of things due to their own choice, that is, that the good benefits and that parents ought to be honored. But to most people prudence is more choiceworthy than wealth, or the soul and god are more valuable than body. However, the wise men, such as Plato, assert that the soul is immortal, and Aristotle says that the heaven is composed of a fifth body,³ and that happiness is produced by virtue, and that virtue is choiceworthy by itself. And since these philosophers are held in esteem according to their wisdom,⁴ the already mentioned theses are plausible as well. Nevertheless, the plausible is different from the true, not because of being false (for there are some things plausible which are also true), but because of verification (or discrimination), since it is true. And such a verification for what is plausible comes from the ones who also listen to those suppositions related to the things.⁵ Things plausible without qualification are those which seem to everyone or to most people, such as "health is something choiceworthy", but by definition 'plausible things' are those which follow on someone whose opinions are held in esteem, such as Plato or Aristotle or Galen. Things implausible⁶ without qualification are those opposed to the plausible ones, and these would be the things said against the opinions of everyone or of the most people. By contrast, things not plausible with qualification are those which are in conflict with the opinion of some person whose opinion is held in high esteem, as it were, that "the soul is not immortal", because such an assertion is in conflict with Plato's opinion. Neither plausible nor not plausible is a problem, a thing about which these philosophers do not opine either. For instance, that the stars or the hairs of the head are uneven or even; or that about which both alternatives are equally possible, such as "something is infinite or is not infinite", "virtues are forms of knowledge" or, again, "virtues are not forms of knowledge".