Aristotle as διαιτητής: Analysis of a Legal Metaphor

In De caelo I 10, 279b4–12, before embarking on a critical examination of other thinkers’ views, Aristotle uses a metaphor taken from the legal sphere, that of the διαιτητής. Although the legal context has been emphasised by researchers, it has been insufficiently appreciated that Aristotle is referring to a specific type of process, namely arbitration, which must be distinguished from a court trial. This metaphor, when analysed from a historical and philological perspective, reveals the attitude Aristotle wishes to adopt when dealing with other thinkers’ views and provides a more accurate understanding of the dialectical character of his treatises.