Many people erroneously confuse “begging the question” for “raising a question”. You hear expressions like “…that then begs the question …” when in actual sense what the speaker meant to say was “… that then raises the question…”. The frequency of this erroneous use even by lawyers, led to a conversation with the learned author and writing mentor, Chinua Asuzu. The outcome of that conversation motivated this piece.
The term “begging the question” has its origin from the Latin term “petitio principii”. It is also said to be a translation from Latin to the English. “Petitio” means to petition, or to appeal to, or to beg; “principii” is the principle which the reasoning seeks to explore, i.e. the issue in question.
If you meet a friend who says to you “No one is permitted to use the gymnasium on weekends, since people are permitted to use the gymnasium only on week days.” The immediate question that comes to mind, would be, “what then is the actual reason for not permitting people to use the gymnasium on weekends?”. You then see that the premise does not support the conclusion.
“Begging the question” is therefore, a logical fallacy in which a premise is assumed to be true without warrant or in which what is to be proved is implicitly taken for granted. It means “to base a conclusion on an assumption that is as much in need of proof or demonstration as the conclusion itself.”
In 2004, at a press conference defending the war in Iraq, George W. Bush said “The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al-Qaida is because there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida.” This presents yet another good example of a statement that “begs the question”.
For more clarity, let us reiterate that “Begging the question” is a term of logical art and is too often abused by speakers and writers who erroneously synonymize the expression with “raising a (follow-up) question.”
References
- Aristotle, Sophistical Refutations 5 (167b: 1 – 15).
- Garner’s Modern English Usage, 4th ed. 103.
- Merriam Webster Dictionary
- Petitio Principii (Begging the Question) -https://www.palomar.edu/users/bthompson/Petitio%20Principii.html
Sunday Kenechukwu Agwu, Esq.,LL.M, ACIArb.,AICMC, PGDE is a Nigerian based legal practitioner, clinical law teacher, education enthusiast, justice sector development enthusiast, and community justice educator who writes from Abuja.
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