Wednesday, April 21, 2010

I'm Just Saying: It Begs the Question

From Wikipedia:
Begging the question (or petitio principii, "assuming the initial point") is a logical fallacy in which the proposition to be proved is assumed implicitly or explicitly in the premise.
It begs the question, for example, to assert that "might makes right" because morality is defined by the victor.  But presenting a plan requiring a mansion and a yacht may raise the question of how to acquire such resources.  Rule of thumb: If you're about to say "It begs the question..." followed by an actual question, you probably mean "it raises the question."

I'm just saying.

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