Korva is a scroll of the internet’s best ideas.
Begging the question assumes the answer
In everyday speech the phrase gets used for anything strange that makes you ask a follow-up, as in this is strange, and that begs the question of why. The logical meaning is different: an argument begs the question when the answer is already built into how it is stated.
This fabric is the best because it's superior to all other fabrics is an example. It sounds like a reason, yet it only states the conclusion again as a premise. The statement never provides an actual answer, because the answer was assumed to begin with.
Where does begging the question come from?
The phrase is an English rendering of the Latin petitio principii, which means asking for the starting point. Latin writers were translating Aristotle's Prior Analytics, where he describes the fault of assuming the very thing you are trying to prove. In this phrase, beg meant to take for granted, not to plead. The English phrase has been used in logic since the sixteenth century.
Why is a circular argument still valid?
In formal logic, an argument is valid when the conclusion follows from the premises, and any statement follows from itself. A circular argument therefore passes the validity test. It fails at persuasion, because anyone who doubts the conclusion will doubt the premise too.
More from The Rest Is Science
