<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Gary Kirchherr: I'll answer the question, and leave it at that. The use/misuse of "begging the question" was beaten to death several months ago, and I don't want to argue about it all over again.<p>Contrary to common, illiterate usage, "to beg the question" does not mean "raises the question." Begging the question means making a statement that assumes as true the very point you're trying to prove. For example, "Because I'm not lying, I must be telling the truth." Or this, a favorite example on the Net: "We know that God exists, since the Bible says God exists. What the Bible says must be true, since God wrote it and God never lies."<p>As I recall, most of the previous discussion on this board centered on whether newspapers should use "begs the question" even the "correct" way, given that so few people understand the "correct" usage.<p>[ January 30, 2003: Message edited by: Gary Kirchherr ]<hr></blockquote> In other words, circular reasoning. My favorite example comes from a Safire column that touched on the subject: Parallel lines will never meet because they are parallel.
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