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Begging the question
In classical rhetoric and logic, begging the question or assuming the conclusion (Latin: petītiō principiī) 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 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:
The phrase "beg the question" is often used to mean "strongly prompt the question", a usage distinct from that in logic. This usage is criticized for diluting the original logical meaning of the phrase.
The original phrase used by Aristotle from which begging the question descends is τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς αἰτεῖν, or sometimes ἐν ἀρχῇ αἰτεῖν, 'asking for the initial thing'. Aristotle's intended meaning is closely tied to the type of dialectical argument he discusses in his Topics, book VIII: a formalized debate in which the defending party asserts a thesis that the attacking party must attempt to refute by asking yes-or-no questions and deducing some inconsistency between the responses and the original thesis.
In this stylized form of debate, the proposition that the answerer undertakes to defend is called 'the initial thing' (Ancient Greek: τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς, τὸ ἐν ἀρχῇ) and one of the rules of the debate is that the questioner cannot simply ask (beg) for it [clarification needed] (that would be trivial and uninteresting). Aristotle discusses this in Sophistical Refutations and in Prior Analytics book II, (64b, 34–65a 9, for circular reasoning see 57b, 18–59b, 1).
The stylized dialectical exchanges Aristotle discusses in the Topics included rules for scoring the debate, and one important issue was precisely the matter of asking for the initial thing—which included not just making the actual thesis adopted by the answerer into a question, but also making a question out of a sentence that was too close to that thesis (for example, PA II 16).
The term was translated into English from Latin in the 16th century. The Latin version, petitio principii 'asking for the starting point', can be interpreted in different ways. Petitio (from peto), in the post-classical context in which the phrase arose, means 'assuming' or 'postulating', but in the older classical sense means 'petition', 'request' or 'beseeching'. Principii, genitive of principium, means 'beginning', 'basis' or 'premise' (of an argument). Literally petitio principii means 'assuming the premise' or 'assuming the original point'.
The Latin phrase comes from the Greek τὸ ἐν ἀρχῇ αἰτεῖσθαι (tò en archêi aiteîsthai 'asking the original point') in Aristotle's Prior Analytics II xvi 64b28–65a26:
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Begging the question AI simulator
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Begging the question
In classical rhetoric and logic, begging the question or assuming the conclusion (Latin: petītiō principiī) 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 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:
The phrase "beg the question" is often used to mean "strongly prompt the question", a usage distinct from that in logic. This usage is criticized for diluting the original logical meaning of the phrase.
The original phrase used by Aristotle from which begging the question descends is τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς αἰτεῖν, or sometimes ἐν ἀρχῇ αἰτεῖν, 'asking for the initial thing'. Aristotle's intended meaning is closely tied to the type of dialectical argument he discusses in his Topics, book VIII: a formalized debate in which the defending party asserts a thesis that the attacking party must attempt to refute by asking yes-or-no questions and deducing some inconsistency between the responses and the original thesis.
In this stylized form of debate, the proposition that the answerer undertakes to defend is called 'the initial thing' (Ancient Greek: τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς, τὸ ἐν ἀρχῇ) and one of the rules of the debate is that the questioner cannot simply ask (beg) for it [clarification needed] (that would be trivial and uninteresting). Aristotle discusses this in Sophistical Refutations and in Prior Analytics book II, (64b, 34–65a 9, for circular reasoning see 57b, 18–59b, 1).
The stylized dialectical exchanges Aristotle discusses in the Topics included rules for scoring the debate, and one important issue was precisely the matter of asking for the initial thing—which included not just making the actual thesis adopted by the answerer into a question, but also making a question out of a sentence that was too close to that thesis (for example, PA II 16).
The term was translated into English from Latin in the 16th century. The Latin version, petitio principii 'asking for the starting point', can be interpreted in different ways. Petitio (from peto), in the post-classical context in which the phrase arose, means 'assuming' or 'postulating', but in the older classical sense means 'petition', 'request' or 'beseeching'. Principii, genitive of principium, means 'beginning', 'basis' or 'premise' (of an argument). Literally petitio principii means 'assuming the premise' or 'assuming the original point'.
The Latin phrase comes from the Greek τὸ ἐν ἀρχῇ αἰτεῖσθαι (tò en archêi aiteîsthai 'asking the original point') in Aristotle's Prior Analytics II xvi 64b28–65a26: