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Subject:Re: What "beg the question" means From:Jay Cherniak <CHERNJC1_at_TEAPOST -at- TEOMAIL -dot- JHUAPL -dot- EDU> Date:Fri, 10 Feb 1995 10:34:45 EST
Arthur,
Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition, gives another
definition of what begging the question means: "to pass over or ignore by
assuming to be established or settled."
That definition is consistent with the way it was used by a linear algebra
teacher of mine, who used it in explaining mathematical proof by induction. The
first step in proof by induction is to assume that the thing you want to prove
is in fact true. Now that's what I call begging the question.
Jay Cherniak
Applied Physics Laboratory
Johns Hopkins University
chernjc1 -at- jhuapl -dot- edu
_______________________________________________________________________________
Subject: What "beg the question" means
From: Arthur Comings <atc -at- CORTE-MADERA -dot- GEOQUEST -dot- SLB -dot- COM> at .APL.and.BEYOND.
Date: 2/9/95 6:27 PM
I'd like to clear up a common misconception. If this subject is old
news to you, please delete now, and accept my apologies.
"Beg the question" means "evade the question" or "sidestep the
question" -- not "ask for the question to be answered."
According to my Webster's Ninth New Collegiat, you can also beg a
_problem_.
