beg the question

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

Latin petitio principii, from Ancient Greek τὸ ἐν ἀρχῇ αἰτεῖσθαι (to en archē aetīsthae, “to assume from the beginning”).

Verb

beg the question (third-person singular simple present begs the question, present participle begging the question, simple past and past participle begged the question)

1. (philosophy, logic) To engage in the logical fallacy of begging the question (petitio principii).
   • 1994, D. N. Walton, “Begging the question as a pragmatic fallacy.” Synthese, vol 100, no 1:

     The objection is that the argument begs the question, meaning that the premise, that God has all the virtues, assumes the conclusion, that God is benevolent.

2. (proscribed) To raise or prompt a question.

   Three people were hurt in the fire at the warehouse last night, which begs the question: what were they doing there in the first place?

Usage notes

The sense “raise a question, prompt a question” is a latter corruption, possibly by confusion with beg to differ, and is proscribed by some usage guides. In the “raise the question” usage, it is used broadly, both for antecedents (given a conclusion or consequence, how did it arise?) and general questions (e.g., “Where do we go from here?”). Others suggest that the phrase is hard to understand in any event, and be avoided, using instead phrases such as “assumes the conclusion” (for philosophical sense) or “raises the question”, “prompts the question” (for latter sense).

Related terms

• begging the question

References

• "Beg the question" in Michael Quinion, Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds, 2004.