Why do some people say ".. [philosopher] might say.."

Question

Reading through philosophy SE, many times I come across people stating what some other philosophers might say for example in How to avoid attachment to "attachment avoidance" in Buddhist philosophy?

Cerberus answered:

But the Epicurean might find himself caught in the same paradox...

Stoics might be troubled by this paradox a bit more. He might say: ...

Aristotle would probably have replied to "should we practice moderation in moderation too?" in a fashion similar to Epicurus....

Is this just a fancy way of saying "According to Stoics' theory..." or does the author really thinks that is what the philosopher will say/think/behave? If it is the latter, I wonder does their thinking/theories really necessitates their behaviour?

Answer 1

This is an idiom. Writing "Aristotle would say..." means "I do not have a quotation where Aristotle addresses this issue directly, but based upon a reading of his philosophy, I assume that the response to this question most likely to be consistent with his thinking would be...."