I beg you -- please do not misuse "begging the question"

[rogerashton]

To "beg the question" is not to beg that the question be asked, but rather, in effect, to beg that it not be asked.

That is, "begging the question" is a fallacy of circular reasoning that assumes the conclusion is correct, usually concealing this assumption by some complex language.

If you want to say "this raises the question," say that. Sheesh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question

[eppur_se_muova]

1. That isn't the usage I've seen most ...

usually (at least as used by British screenwriters and authors ) I've seen it used to mean that one has only opened another question, by means of an insufficient answer to the first. Not su much circular reasoning as "open-chain" reasoning.

I suppose "restating the question" (which I see so often on student exam answers) is a particular version of this, which is close to what the Wiki says (but I notice that the wiki page has issues).

Thanks for caring about our language.

[antiquie]

2. This is what I was taught:

Examples of Begging the Question

Bill: "God must exist."
Jill: "How do you know."
Bill: "Because the Bible says so."
Jill: "Why should I believe the Bible?"
Bill: "Because the Bible was written by God."

"If such actions were not illegal, then they would not be prohibited by the law."

"The belief in God is universal. After all, everyone believes in God."

Interviewer: "Your resume looks impressive but I need another reference."
Bill: "Jill can give me a good reference."
Interviewer: "Good. But how do I know that Jill is trustworthy?"
Bill: "Certainly. I can vouch for her."

[Lionel Mandrake]

3. Here's an example:

"Opium induces sleep because it has a soporific quality."

The reasoning is circular because "soporific" means sleep-inducing. This is begging the question.

This example is attributed in the Wikipedia article to

Welton, James. "Fallacies incident to method." A Manual of Logic, Vol. 2. London: W.B. Clive University Tutorial Press, 1905.

[WinkyDink]

4. One of my philosophy-grad husband's bugaboos!

[DirkGently]

5. Yes! But it's becoming what people wrongly assume it means.

I remember a college English professor raising this. "Begs the question" sounds like, "Suggests a new question," so that's how it gets used.

"Smoking kills people, which 'begs the question,' 'Why smoke?'" Wrong, but increasingly the "accepted" usage.


But it originally meant something more like "beggar the question," -- avoid the actual question with internally circular reasoning.

"Smoking kills people because it is extremely unhealthy."

It "beggars" or impoverishes the point you're trying to make, by just repeating or re-rephrasing it.

[rogerashton]

6. True -- but sometimes these things turn around.

I rarely hear anyone pronounce "aunt" as if she was a insect, though when I was young it was prit-near universal.

[DirkGently]

7. I use the insect pronunciation!

Cambridge says that is the American pronunciation, with "ont" the preferred British mode.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/british/aunt

Also, all of my aunts have six legs and can lift ten times their own body weight so ...