Definitions
Wiktionary
- v. philosophy, logic To engage in the logical fallacy of begging the question (petitio principii).
- v. proscribed To raise or prompt a question.
Etymologies
- Latin petitio principii, from Ancient Greek τὸ ἐν ἀρχῇ αἰτεῖσθαι (to en archē aetīsthae, "to assume from the beginning"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
““As a retired teacher of logic,” writes Daniel Merrill, who taught philosophy at Oberlin College, “I implore you: give the technical use of beg the question back to the logicians!””
Simon & Schuster: The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘beg the question’.
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Logical Fallacies
I know it's been done before, but I just couldn't resist having my own list--I'll be borrowing from Amberley's list of Fallacies (and others).
petitio principii, begging the question, post hoc ergo pro..., logical fallacy, ignoratio elenchi, non sequitur, amphiboly, fallacy of accent, amphibology, hypostatization, equivocation, reification and 12 more...
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Miscellaneous
‽, ☤, mandelbrot, angora rabbit, psychrolutes marc..., vampyroteuthis in..., basking shark, mano de desierto, underwater sculpt..., surgical dining, gyroscope, Derinkuyu and 161 more...
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Review
Words to study and become more familiar with.
phatic, tontine, backronym, polyptoton, fissiparous, deus ex machina, orrery, prolly, mad props, snog, oubliette, copyleft and 101 more...
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AbraxasZugzwang's Words
atavism, abraxas, sisyphean, frust, fetus-in-fetu, arhythmically, queef, epidemiology, abecedarian, troglodyte, chiaroscuro, philology and 631 more...
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TBH
Life is timshel negentropy.
collective noun, terms of venery, tramp stamp, snot, polish, snotty, smartass, remark, shitload, pun, champion, trigger and 75 more...
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joni325's Words
metaphysics, a priori, copious, natural theology, apologetics, philosophical the..., teleological, exnihilation, dogmatic, final cause, prime mover, ontological and 11 more...
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That Would Be Illogical
Mr. Spock didn't need this list. But the rest of us might find it useful, if we have a point to prove.
beg the question, ad hominem, straw man, false precision, guilt by association, slippery slope, bifurcation, redefinition, exclusive premises, appeal to emotion, biased sample, circular argument and 4 more...
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Fickle Phrases
Phrases or sayings that people often misspell or misunderstand.
beg the question, bated breath, give the lie, dagger drinks the..., pledges of their ...
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TBH bon mots
clever remarks
bon mot, life is timshel n..., terminate with ex..., ignore with extre..., beg the question
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mang's Words
kobo, illiterate, pen, gratuitous, beg the question, muse, speakerbox, kuduro, sonora, ambitious
Tweets
Looking for tweets for beg the question.
trudim I am so relieved to read these comments. I thought I was losing my mind. Now I realize we are just losing the fight. MM Mar 15, 2012
ruzuzu I'm afraid I've given up the fight - often I'll just use petitio principii to describe the logical fallacy. May 11, 2010
oroboros "I think 'a' is 'x' because 'x' is 'a'." begs the question. "Fessbinder's a nerd because under "nerd" in the dictionary you'll find his picture." Apr 30, 2010
oroboros Here, here, u.!! :o) Unfortunately the relative lack of opportunity to use BTQ correctly is causing it to lose the race behind the plentiful opportunities of "raises the question" usage.
BTW, BTQ bears a family resemblance to ipsedixitism Dec 21, 2006
uselessness "Begging the question" is a form of logical fallacy in which an argument is assumed to be true without evidence other than the argument itself. When one begs the question, the initial assumption of a statement is treated as already proven without any logic to show why the statement is true in the first place.
A simple example would be "I think he is unattractive because he is ugly." The adjective "ugly" does not explain why the subject is "unattractive" -- they virtually amount to the same subjective meaning, and the proof is merely a restatement of the premise. The sentence has begged the question.
To beg the question does not mean "to raise the question." (e.g. "It begs the question, why is he so dumb?") This is a common error of usage made by those who mistake the word "question" in the phrase to refer to a literal question. Sadly, the error has grown more and more ubiquitous common with time, such that even journalists, advertisers, and major mass media entities have fallen prey to "BTQ Abuse."
While descriptivists and other such laissez-faire linguists are content to allow the misconception to fall into the vernacular, it cannot be denied that logic and philosophy stand to lose an important conceptual label should the meaning of BTQ become diluted to the point that we must constantly distinguish between the traditional usage and the erroneous "modern" usage. This is why we fight. Dec 13, 2006