Posted on 02/06/2012 7:18:41 AM PST by xsmommy
Word For The Day, Monday, 2/6/12
In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day".
"begs the question"
"Begging the question" is a form of logical fallacy in which a statement or claim is assumed to be true without evidence other than the statement or claim itself. When one begs the question, the initial assumption of a statement is treated as already proven without any logic to show why the statement is true in the first place. A simple example would be "I think he is unattractive because he is ugly." The adjective "ugly" does not explain why the subject is "unattractive" -- they virtually amount to the same subjective meaning, and the proof is merely a restatement of the premise. The sentence has begged the question. To beg the question does not mean "to raise the question." (e.g. "It begs the question, why is he so dumb?") This is a common error of usage made by those who mistake the word "question" in the phrase to refer to a literal question. Sadly, the error has grown more and more common with time, such that even journalists, advertisers, and major mass media entities have fallen prey to "BTQ Abuse."
While descriptivists and other such laissez-faire linguists are content to allow the misconception to fall into the vernacular, it cannot be denied that logic and philosophy stand to lose an important conceptual label should the meaning of BTQ become diluted to the point that we must constantly distinguish between the traditional usage and the erroneous "modern" usage. This is why we fight
Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the Word for the Day in a sentence.
The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day.
The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-)
Practice makes perfect.....post on....
A beat? Technopop has a beat. How much Novaspace technocrap you got on ur Ipod?
None, not that I begrudge anyone their musical taste. musical snobbery is douchebaggery ; ). Jeffrey Osborne stay with me tonight, great song from my heyday! We had a Jeffrey Osborne song as our first dance at our wedding reception.
I was betting on Jackson Browne’s “Lawyers in Love”.
Who knew the ancient Olmecs had their own Obama?
So does Ministry
So does Ministry
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