Beg the question

This expression has become an issue of controversy and confusion only because so many people use it incorrectly. Increasingly, beg the question is being used as a synonym for prompt or raise the question. For example, in the sentence, “Some churches are now sanctioning gay marriages, which begs the question why did they once abominate them?” Strictly speaking, the person making this statement is not begging the question but is merely prompting or raising the question. The guiding rule is, if the word ‘prompts’ or ‘raises’ can be substituted for the word ‘begs’, without altering the meaning, as in the example just quoted, then these are the words that should be used instead of ‘begs’, strictly speaking. Of course, many expressions that are used wrongly do become Standard English and this may well happen with beg the question but, until that time, it is best to avoid this incorrect usage. This confusion arises because the word beg has two meanings. The OED confirms beg can simply mean to ask, as in beg for money, beg for pardon, or beg to differ etc. Beg in this sense dates from at least the 11th century. Its second meaning, however, is to take for granted or assume something as in begging the question. This meaning of begging the question dates from the late 16th century. The word ‘question’ itself has two meanings. It can simply signify the interrogative as in asking a question, but it can also mean a topic or an issue and it is this latter meaning that is used in begging the question. According to the OED, to beg the question in this sense is first attested in English from 1581 and means take an issue for granted or simply to assume that something or other is the case. This is completely different to prompting, raising, or asking a question. For example, if someone makes the statement, “Lying is wrong because we ought to tell the truth”, the statement is said to beg the question because it has merely taken the issue for granted. To beg the question is in fact a logical fallacy that was first exposed by Aristotle around 350 B.C and is known in logic as petitio principii, the literal translation of which is ‘the assumption of the beginning’. A clearer translation would be ‘taking the principle or issue for granted’. Some 16th century scholar, it is not known who, offered ‘beg the question’ as a translation for petitio principii but because ‘beg the question’ can also mean ‘to ask a question’, this has led to the subsequent confusion between the two. In conclusion, in any discussion or argument, when someone uses the logical fallacy of petitio principii, as in “lying is wrong because we ought to tell the truth” then he or she is merely begging the question. If, however, someone says, “That begs the question” and follows up with an actual question, that person is merely prompting or raising a question, in which case it is better and clearer to say so.