Beg the question
What's the meaning of the phrase 'Beg the question'?
This is one of those rare phrases in which the meaning is more debated than the origin.
The usage that has become common in recent years has a meaning something along the lines of 'prompt/raise the question', that is, 'beg that the question be asked'. This is usually seen in circumstances where something is described and then an explanation is sought; for example, this piece from a 2003 edition of the Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner:
What we are saying here is that every 2 days a juvenile is arrested and it begs the question, "What is really happening to our parents?"
This usage is understandable and has presumably come about by interpreting the 'beg' of 'beg the question' as 'request' or 'humbly submit'. This is the meaning of the word in the similar phrase 'beg to differ'.
The actual meaning is quite different. To 'beg the question' means to talk about a question as though it were true, even though it might not be. This is almost the opposite of the commonly understood 'beg that the question be asked' meaning in that it means 'cause the question not be asked'.
In more contemporary language we might call begging the question as a circular argument or a self-fulfilling prophesy. For example, someone might argue that:
The soul is immortal.
Being immortal it lives forever.
Things that live forever cannot die.
Therefore the soul cannot die, that is, it is immortal.
The above argument begs the question, that is, it assumes it to be true as part of its case for it being true.
The expression was coined as a rather over-literal translation of the Latin phrase 'petitio principii'. The Latin version was itself a translation of Greek text 'en archei aiteisthai' taken from Aristotle's Prior Analytics. The phrase was known in English by at least 1581, at which date it was recorded by William Clarke:
"Ffiij, I say this is still to begge the question."
The logical constructs that Aristotle was describing were statements that assume the truth one is attempting to prove. Those might be questions which have an assertion smuggled into them, like 'Why has England fewer trees per acre than any other country in Europe?'. More commonly such statements contain the fallacious reasoning that we now usually call a 'circular argument'; for example, 'He must be speaking the truth because he never lies'. The 'truth' being assumed in advance isn't always so blatant. René Descartes' famous 'I think, therefore I am' can be said to be begging the question as he must exist before he can think - it is hardly a proof of anything to state 'I exist, therefore I am'.
If things weren't obscure enough with this phrase there was a version of the meaning that emerged between the two given above. That was its use to mean 'avoid the question'. This presumably also came from a misreading of 'beg' to follow the meaning of 'beggar description' or 'beggar belief'. That meaning of 'beggar', which seems to have been coined by Shakespeare in Anthony and Cleopatra, 1606, is 'exceed the resources of; go beyond':
"For her owne person It beggerd all discription."
Most authorities now view the current 'raise the question' meaning of 'beg the question' as acceptable, even if that is a somewhat grudging recognition that the weight of numbers of those who use it that way is overwhelming. It is also suggested by some that the minority who know and understand the original version should avoid using it, unless they are amongst consenting adults, as they aren't likely to be understood. That would be an unfortunate route to take. Whatever we might prefer, it is very likely that the percentage of the population that knows, or cares, that they are using the phrase incorrectly will continue to decline.
"Kulingana na maneno ya ""kuomba"" ni nini maana ya maneno ""kuomba""?" Hii ni mojawapo ya misemo hiyo isiyo ya kawaida ambayo maana yake inazungumziwa zaidi kuliko chanzo chake. Matumizi ambayo yamekuwa ya kawaida katika miaka ya hivi karibuni yana maana ya kitu karibu na mistari ya 'kuchochea / kuinua swali', ambayo ni, 'kuomba kwamba swali liulizwe'. "Hii ni kwa sababu ya kuonekana kwa picha ya ""mwanamume"" katika gazeti la Jamaica, The Gleaner, ambalo limesema kwamba kila siku vijana wanakamatwa na kuhojiwa na kuhojiwa na polisi." Matumizi haya ni ya kueleweka na inawezekana imekuja kwa kutafsiri 'kuomba' ya 'kuomba swali' kama'maombi' au 'kujitoa kwa unyenyekevu'. Hii ni maana ya neno katika kifungu sawa 'kuomba kutofautiana'. Maana halisi ni tofauti kabisa. 'Kuomba swali' humaanisha kuzungumza juu ya swali kana kwamba ni kweli, ingawa huenda isiwe hivyo. Hii ni karibu kinyume na kawaida kueleweka 'kuomba kwamba swali kuulizwa' maana katika kwamba ina maana'sababishi swali si kuulizwa'. Katika lugha ya kisasa zaidi tunaweza kuita kuomba swali kama hoja ya mviringo au unabii unaojitimiza. Kwa mfano, mtu anaweza kusema hivi: Nafsi haiwezi kufa. Kwa kuwa haiwezi kufa, huishi milele. Vitu vinavyoishi milele haviwezi kufa. Kwa hiyo nafsi haiwezi kufa, yaani, haiwezi kufa. "Hii ni hoja ya msingi ya hoja ya juu, ambayo inadhani kuwa ni kweli kama sehemu ya kesi yake kwa kuwa ni kweli. """ Maneno hayo yalitokezwa kama tafsiri ya kimatini ya maneno ya Kilatini 'petitio principii'. Toleo la Kilatini lenyewe lilikuwa tafsiri ya maandishi ya Kigiriki 'en archei aiteisthai' yaliyochukuliwa kutoka kwa Aristotle's Prior Analytics. "Hii ni kwa sababu ya maneno ya William Clarke ya mwaka 1581, ""Fiji, I say this is still to be the question.""" Mifano ya kimantiki ambayo Aristotle alikuwa akielezea ilikuwa taarifa ambazo zinadhani ukweli mmoja anajaribu kuthibitisha. "Hiyo inaweza kuwa maswali ambayo yana madai yaliyofichwa ndani yao, kama vile ""Kwa nini Uingereza ina miti michache kwa ekari kuliko nchi nyingine yoyote Ulaya?""" "Kwa kawaida taarifa kama hizo zina hoja za uwongo ambazo sasa kwa kawaida tunaziita ""hoja ya mviringo,"" kwa mfano, ""Ni lazima awe akisema ukweli kwa sababu hawadanganyi kamwe.""" 'Ukweli' unaodhaniwa mapema si dhahiri sikuzote. "René Descartes alisema ""Nafikiri, kwa hiyo mimi ni"" na ""Nafikiri, kwa hiyo mimi ni"" ni uthibitisho wa kitu chochote." Kama mambo hayakuwa wazi vya kutosha na kifungu hiki kulikuwa na toleo la maana ambayo ilitokea kati ya mbili zilizotolewa hapo juu. Hiyo ilikuwa matumizi yake kumaanisha 'kuepuka swali'. Hii pengine pia ilitokana na usomaji mbaya wa 'kuomba' kufuata maana ya'maelezo ya kuomba' au 'imani ya kuomba'. "Hii ni kwa sababu ya maneno ya Shakespeare katika kitabu chake cha ""Anthony and Cleopatra"" (1606) ambayo yanasema ""Kutoka kwa rasilimali za mtu, kwenda zaidi ya uwezo wake"" na ""Kwa sababu ya mtu wake mwenyewe, yeye ni mwombaji wa kila namna.""" "Watu wengi sasa wanaona maana ya sasa ya ""kuinua swali"" ya ""kuomba swali"" kama inayokubalika, hata kama hiyo ni utambuzi wa kukataa kwamba uzito wa idadi ya wale wanaotumia kwa njia hiyo ni kubwa sana." Pia ni mapendekezo ya baadhi ya watu kwamba wachache ambao wanajua na kuelewa toleo la awali wanapaswa kuepuka kutumia, isipokuwa kama wao ni miongoni mwa watu wazima kukubali, kama wao si uwezekano wa kuelewa. Hiyo ingekuwa njia mbaya ya kuchukua. "Hata tuwe na maoni gani, ni uwezekano mkubwa kwamba asilimia ya watu wanaofahamu au wanaojali kwamba wanatumia maneno hayo kwa njia isiyo sahihi itaendelea kupungua."""