[PLUG-TALK] begging the question

Rich Shepard rshepard at appl-ecosys.com
Fri Oct 2 23:35:10 UTC 2009


On Fri, 2 Oct 2009, Galen Seitz wrote:

> 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".

   The author obviously needs to eschew obfuscation.

Rich

-- 
Richard B. Shepard, Ph.D.               |  Integrity            Credibility
Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc.        |            Innovation
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