Argument
Begging the question
Overview
In classical rhetoric and logic, begging the question or assuming the conclusion (Latin: petitio principii) is an informal fallacy that occurs when an argument's premises assume the truth of the conclusion. Historically, begging the question refers to a fault in a dialectical argument in which the speaker assumes some premise that has not been demonstrated to be true. In modern philosophical usage, it has come to refer to an argument in which the premises assume the conclusion without supporting it. This makes it an example of circular reasoning.
Some examples are:
“Wool sweaters are better than nylon jackets as fall attire because wool sweaters have higher wool content".
The claim here is that wool sweaters are better than nylon jackets as fall attire. But the claim's justification begs the question, because it presupposes that wool is better than nylon. An essentialist analysis of this claim observes that anything made of wool intrinsically has more "wool content" than anything not made of wool, giving the claim weak explanatory power for wool's superiority to nylon.
In modern times, "beg the question" has taken on the common meaning of "strongly prompt the question", a usage distinct from the study of logic. This usage is criticized for diluting the original meaning of the phrase.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
In doing so you forget that we agreed to consider the error by itself; its relation to the intention which it disturbs will be discussed later. _You_ would be guilty of an error in logic, by which you would conveniently dispose of the whole problem under discussion, which in English is called “begging the question.” In other cases, where the form of the slip is not exactly the opposite of what is intended, a…
Sigmund Freud, Introductory lectures on psycho-analysis
States what Begging the question is; names Begging the question.
In order to aid the imagination in conceiving the transference of property, we take the sensible object, and actually transfer its possession to the person on whom we would bestow the property. The supposed resemblance of the actions, and the presence of this sensible delivery, deceive the mind, and make it fancy that it conceives the mysterious transition of the property. And that this explication of the matter is…
David Hume, Philosophical Works, v. 2
States what Begging the question is; the author is tied to Begging the question in the knowledge graph.
To say it is experimental, is begging the question. For all inferences from experience suppose, as their foundation, that the future will resemble the past, and that similar powers will be conjoined with similar sensible qualities.
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
The author is tied to Begging the question in the knowledge graph; names Begging the question.
Philosophers who discussed Begging the question
- Anselm of Canterbury
- Charles Sanders Peirce
- David Hume
- Alvin Plantinga
- Open-question argument
- Alf Ross
- Paul Copan
- Stephen F. Barker
Related ideas
- Argument
- Informal fallacy
- Sophistical Refutations
- Topics (Aristotle)
- Latin
- Metaphysics
- Validity (logic)
- Explanatory power
- Rule of inference
- Rhetoric
- Apodicticity
- Truth
- Aristotle
- Circular reasoning
- Inference
- Formal fallacy
- Logical consequence
- Vernacular
- Logic
- Essentialism
- Prior Analytics
- Dialectic
- Premise
- Epistemology
Place in the tradition
Part of American philosophy.