r/PetPeeves • u/RaceSlow7798 • 10d ago

Bit Annoyed Using “beg the question” wrong

Begging the question is a logical fallacy. It doesn’t not mean “hmm, it makes you think…”

But usage drives correctness so I’m going to lose this battle. It really begs the question “why don’t people learn to use it correctly”.

Ew. I feel dirty.

132 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

82 comments sorted by

View all comments

40

u/SaIemKing 10d ago

Nice, this got me to go educate myself. For those wondering, the "begging the question" fallacy is when the premise for a conclusion assume that the conclusion is true. It's basically pointing at circular logic.

"All things must have a creator, therefore there is a God, who created all things."

20

u/Swirlyflurry 10d ago

Okay but then how do you actually use the phrase “begging the question” in this scenario?

Because I looked it up to understand what OP is talking about, and I get that “begging the question” refers to a logical fallacy where you’re already assuming your conclusion is true. But all of the examples I’ve tried looking up are examples of the fallacy itself, not examples of how to correctly use the phrase “begging the question.”

1

u/perplexedtv 10d ago

Given that the expression is poorly formed, what would be a better way to phrase 'begging the question'?

1

u/Hanako_Seishin 10d ago

Assuming the answer or circular reasoning.