[PLUG-TALK] begging the question

Galen Seitz galens at seitzassoc.com
Fri Oct 2 23:18:20 UTC 2009


Saw the following comment on slashdot.  JJJ, can you translate this 
into something I might understand?  It's been ~31 years since my last 
English class.

http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1390695&cid=29621279

> Begs the question" has a specific meaning related to circular 
> arguments.

Yes, the intransitive construction "begs the question' does. The
transitive constructions "begs the question <question>" is also in
common use, and has a different meaning regarding calling for a
resolution of a question. The meaning of the transitive form is
essentially a generalization of the intransitive form such that the
intransitive form is identical to the transitive form with the assumed
object being the question actually at issue in the debate. This is a
rather elegant rationalization of the poor translation into English of
the dubious translation into Latin of the Greek phrase that ultimately
turned into "begging the question".

Arguing that the use of the transitive construction is wrong because
of the well-established technical definition of the intransitive
construction is, IMO, one of the most inane forms of misguided
linguistic prescriptivist pedantry commonly seen, as the two are
distinct constructions which are impossible to confuse with each
other, and have meanings that are related the way one would expect the
meanings of transitive and intransitive phrases to relate to each
other (even though the more general, transitive form, is generalized
from the more specific, intransitive form in a way which reflects the
normal use of the English words in the phrase rather than etymology of
the transitive form.)


-- 
Galen Seitz
galens at seitzassoc.com



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