Logical Fallacies: Begging The Question

One of my biggest pet peeves, to be a bit of a snob, is the incorrect use of the phrase “that begs the question.” Too often have I heard the smartest person on a TV show, or in a movie, respond to a questionable assertion by saying, “Well, that begs the question,” followed by them actually asking a question. This is also a trap fallen into too often by politicians and other public figures. But what does the phrase to “beg the question” actually mean?

In the textbook Critical Thinking, Moore and Parker say begging the question is “when we ask our audience to accept premises that are as controversial as the conclusion we’re arguing for and are controversial on the same grounds.” In other words, one of the assumptions by which our conclusion is proven, is just as questionable as the conclusion itself.

Within the same textbook, Moore and Parker give a great, and funny example of begging the question. It goes something like this. Two gold miners find three pieces of gold. While splitting up the gold, one of the miners says, “Two for me, and one for you.”

In response, the other miner says, “That’s not fair. Why do you get two pieces?”

The first says, “Well, because I’m the leader.”

“What makes you the leader?”

“Because I’ve got twice the amount gold as you do.”

We can break this this up into a syllogism to more clearly see where the argument begs the question.

P1: The leader should receive more gold.

P2: Person A is the leader.

C: Therefore, Person A should receive more gold.

AND

P1: Whoever has more gold is the leader.

P2: Person A has more gold.

C: Therefore, Person A is the leader.

In both these cases, P2 is a questionable premise. In fact, both P2s are just as questionable as the conclusions they intend to prove.

As a quick conclusion, I’ll just say that for anyone who used “begs the question” to bring up a question, an easy alternative is “raises the question.”