Why is “begging the question” not the same as “raising the question”?

Accepted answer

1. Tomasz Szewczak 2 months ago

   ✓ Accepted answer Fellow

   Begging the question (petitio principii) is assuming, in your premises, the very thing you're trying to prove. The argument may be valid, but it can't persuade anyone who doesn't already accept the conclusion.

   A simple example: "This newspaper is trustworthy, because it says so in its editorials, and you can trust what this newspaper says." The trustworthiness is assumed to prove itself.

   Subtler cases hide the conclusion in a premise that sounds different: "Abortion is wrong because it's the unjust taking of an innocent life" assumes most of what's in dispute.

   The name comes from Aristotle, Prior Analytics II.16, where he discusses "asking for the initial point": in a dialectical debate you ask your opponent to grant premises, and if you ask them to grant the conclusion itself, you've "begged" (asked for) the point at issue. Latin translated this as petitio principii, and English as "begging the question".

   So "raises the question" is a perfectly good phrase. It's just not what "begs the question" originally meant.

   1. Vikram Sethi 2 months ago

      Fellow

      "Asking for the initial point" makes the name make sense at last. Thank you, Tomasz. The newspaper example is going straight onto my whiteboard.