Begs the question

[DougShrapnel]

Can I use beg the question, to mean raising the question. Or should I only be allowed to use it to mean The truth of the conclusion is assumed by the premises.
Often, the conclusion is simply restated in the premises in a
slightly different form. In more difficult cases, the premise is
a consequence of the conclusion

[chezlaw]

[ QUOTE ]
Can I use beg the question, to mean raising the question. Or should I only be allowed to use it to mean The truth of the conclusion is assumed by the premises.
Often, the conclusion is simply restated in the premises in a
slightly different form. In more difficult cases, the premise is
a consequence of the conclusion

[/ QUOTE ]

The conclusion of a valid argument is always assumed by the premises. Thats a good thing.

In rational debate the idea is to get to a situation where we agree on the assumptions and then determine which conclusions follow.

The problem is when someone claims they have justified a controversial conclusion when all they have done is assume the equivilent controversial assumptions.

chez

[bearly]

as chez says: all formal reasoning is analytic. on the radio and tv the expression 'begs the question' is frequently misused to state 'this leaves the question still begging for an answer.........'. very annoying habit and i doubt the talking heads know the difference............b