Begging the Question

I often see people complaining about the modern use of "beg the question." They see people using this phrase when those people really mean "raise the question," and get indignant because "begging the question" is supposed to only relate to a logical fallacy similar to circular reasoning.

I'd like to caution the true grammarians who might be reading not to fall into the trap of assuming that the modern use is in any way incorrect. To proclaim any use of language as "incorrect" is to use a prescriptive approach to language. The problem is that language changes - to try to prescribe its meaning is to try to lock it in place at a particular point in time. We can do that with Latin because Latin is a dead language, no longer spoken as a native language for any speaker. English, however, is living, and that means that as time passes, meanings and rules change. "'Ain't' ain't a word," as we like to say, but it certainly was well-used in Victorian times.

Modern grammarians, however, prefer to use a descriptive approach to language. That is to say: we look at how people are using language and try to describe the natural rules people have created for themselves, rather than forcing rules onto people. The fact that people use "beg the question" when they mean "raise the question," then, implies that "beg the question" is proper grammar in this scenario. Sphere: Related Content