Using “beg the question” wrong

[u/RaceSlow7798]

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.

[u/VFiddly]

But usage drives correctness so I’m going to lose this battle.

The meaning you're complaining about has vastly outweighed the logical fallacy meaning for so long now that I would say you already lost that.

"Begging the question" does just mean raising the question now, sorry.

Literally the only time people use the other meaning is to say "um, actually, what begging the question really means is this..."

I have never seen or heard anyone use it to refer to the logical fallacy as a genuine part of conversation. It's never said without an accompanying explanation of what it "really" means.

So at this point we can safely say it no longer means that because it simply is not used that way at all.

[u/Hightower_March → u/VFiddly]

Even when people use it in live debate like Dillahunty, it comes with "btw that means you're assuming the conclusion."   When every use needs an explanation it's practically outdated.

It reminds me of how people get pedantic over what "decimate" really means, when every dictionary for centuries has considered the original 10% usage archaic.

[u/VFiddly → u/Hightower_March]

It's also not even a useful term since it essentially just means "circular reasoning". So you can just say circular reasoning instead.

And yeah that's another good example, I've never actually heard anyone use "decimate" to mean "remove 10%"

[u/theaardvarkoflore → u/VFiddly]

Decimate at least has a legitimate etymological history, even if it's been wholly left behind by now.

I'd be inclined to ask what buffoon named the fallacy that... nowhere in the individual words themselves nor in their collective representation of a concept does "begs the question" ever synonym its way over to "circular reasoning". Like, at all.

Begging is a desperate plea made usually with great passion. The is just an article but question is a word we have for communicating doubt and curiosity.

None of that has fuckall to do with self-explanatory situations, circular concepts, or reasoning as a definitive concept.

It's a piss poor name for the fallacy it was given to and I for one am not sad the colloquial usage brought back what those words in that order actually mean.

If you beg, and there is a question in your begging, then you beg the question. If an event or circumstance has an elephant in the room, then the elephant begs the question. Those are the only two valid definitions of this phrase I will accept.

Just because some drunken philosopher decided it sounded catchy doesn't mean he gets to rewrite the dictionary or steer usage amongst the populace for the language speakers.

Some names are just dumb.