For example, Bill's story about why he used his weapon against a person
whom he claims he perceived as a threat is begging the question of why he
was carrying an unlicensed weapon in the first place. Sounds okay to use
'begging the question' here, even though there is probably no formal
logical fallacy involved in Bill's story...
On Wed, Dec 28, 2016 at 5:12 PM, Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
ANd I will not bother to respond to JL's post since he feels compelled to
change the title of every thread into something that mentions Grice.
On Wed, Dec 28, 2016 at 5:09 PM, Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Begging the question is a logical fallacy, meaning if I remember
correctly an argument that already assumes the truth of the conclusion.
(Usually through an unspoken premise, I would guess.) That said, it can be
used pretty naturally in a way that means raising the question, and again
if I remember correctly it tends to be so used in American English of the
journalistic variety. Perhaps we could see some examples that look
troublesome here, if there is any trouble at all.
O.K.
On Wed, Dec 28, 2016 at 2:16 PM, Donal McEvoy <
dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
This usage has been going on for years. Michael Parkinson may be largely
responsible. Growing up I thought it meant "raises the question", with
"begs" being used as in "asks" and "asks" being used as in "raised" (is
this how it widened sense?). Only later did the narrower, stricter meaning
become known to me - i.e. of something that assumes what is being is
disputed e.g. to say God's miracles prove God's existence begs the question
of God's existence (unless their provenance can be proved independent of
any assumption of God's existence, which appears not the case).
For me, the problem may be that question-begging in the stricter sense
is a detectible argumentative flaw, and replacement of the narrower sense
for the wider therefore diminishes attunement to whether the flaw is
present. I say that from a logical, argumentative point of view. But, as to
whether loss of a linguistic sense based on a specific logical distinction
leads to loss to attunement to that underlying distinction, this of course
begs the question.
D
Beggar of beliefs and questions
Currently irritated to a much greater extent by other things
L
------------------------------
*From:* "epostboxx@xxxxxxxx" <epostboxx@xxxxxxxx>
*To:* Lit-Ideas <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Sent:* Wednesday, 28 December 2016, 11:13
*Subject:* [lit-ideas] Re: Current Irritant
On 28 Dec 2016, at 03:45, david ritchie <profdritchie@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
is wrong with these people?
I keep hearing, “begs the question” for “raises the question.” … What
I’m glad to hear that someone else is irritated by this — I was
beginning to think that this was a long-accepted British English usage. I
hear it constantly from British interviewers and commentators and was
unaware that this particular rot hat set in across the pond as well.
But maybe its just us that have something wrong, David — i.e., we’re
getting old, and the language is (for better or for worse) moving on, as
languages do. (This is a prime example of the word ‘evolution’ and its
cognates meaning simply ‘change’ — not always for the better.)
'Begs the question’ is just the latest in an ever-longer-growing list:
‘hijacking’ when one clearly means an act of air piracy, ‘decimate’ when
one clearly means not just one of ten but the vast majority killed, ‘the
exception proves the rule’ when one is unaware ‘prove’ in this case clearly
means ‘test’ … (list members are requested to continue the list with ‘pet’
irritants of their own).
Of particular irritation to me is the use of ‘democratic’ to mean
‘egalitarian’. Just yesterday a commentator on the new philharmonic hall
in Hamburg wrote that the room was ‘democratic’ — meaning that one
experienced the same quality of sound regardless of where one sits. A
‘democratic’ concert hall — now that WOULD be something ...
Chris Bruce,
eagerly awaiting commencement of concerts
in the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, in
Kiel, Germany
P.S.
Answers on the back of a ten shilling postal order, please.
Hmm, I seem to have run out — perhaps you could replenish my supply.
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