Dear Amy,

Yes, the latter is apparantly becoming a common usage, but it is also an
erroneous usage (and an unfortunate misunderstanding, I believe, of what
used to be quite clear and simple). We're apparantly living in an era where
the imagination is not used much any more.

 {:-[

"Begging the question" in the second sense misunderstands the meaning of the
verbal, "begging." It doesn't mean, "asking or pleading;" it mean,
"presupposing."  To "beg the question" means "to equivocate."

PED

-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Saturday, October 16, 1999 11:15 AM
Subject: Re: query: begs the question


>The way I learned it, "begging the question" means "evading the question,"
>but I've heard it used to mean "pleading that a particular question be
asked."
>I'm guessing that the latter is the more common usage.
>AB
>