The conclusions recently summarised by A. Marmur [J. Am. Chem. Soc. 122 (2000) 2120] concerning hydrophobic aggregation of solutes in aqueous solution are examined. The thermodynamic analysis is critically reviewed and the impact of implicit extrathermodynamic assumptions discussed. These assumptions are questioned and shown to lead to a model for hydrophobic aggregation which is flawed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.