This article endeavors to give an answer to the question whether and to what extent philia (friendship), as it is treated by Aristotle in Rhetoric II 4, can be considered a genuine emotion as, for example, fear and anger are. Three anomalies are identified in the definition and the account of philia (and of the associated verb philein), which suggest a negative response to the question. However, these anomalies are analysed and explained in terms of the specific notes of philia in order to show that Rhetoric II 4 does allow for a consideration of friendship as a genuine emotion.