Begging the question

In logic, begging the question is the term for a type of fallacy occurring in deductive reasoning in which the proposition to be proved is assumed implicitly or explicitly in one of the premises. For an example of this, consider the following argument: "Politicians cannot be trusted. Only an untrustworthy person would run for office; the fact that politicians are untrustworthy is proof of this. Therefore politicians cannot be trusted" Such an argument is fallacious, because it relies upon its own proposition (in this case, "politicians are untrustworthy") in order to support its central premise. Essentially, the argument assumes that its central point is already proven, and uses this in support of itself.

Related Topics:
Logic - Fallacy

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Begging the question is also known as petitio principii, and is related to the fallacy known as circular argument, circulus in probando, vicious circle or circular reasoning. As a concept in logic the first known definition in the West is by the Greek philosopher Aristotle around 350 B.C., in his book Prior Analytics, where he classified it as a material fallacy.

Related Topics:
Logic - Greek - Philosopher - Aristotle - 350 B.C. - Prior Analytics - Material fallacy

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The term is usually not used to describe the broader fallacy that occurs when the evidence given for a proposition is as much in need of proof as the proposition itself: the more accepted classification for such arguments is as a fallacy of many questions.

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There is controversy over the modern everyday usage of to beg the question, which means something entirely different (see modern usage controversy below).

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