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Date: | Fri, 1 Feb 2008 10:47:30 +0000 |
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Paul,
'To beg the question' is a term of art from rhetoric and philosophy. It
means to make a claim while blatantly ignoring an essential and well-known
objection to what one is saying. The metaphor, therefore, is appropriate,
for one is unknowingly inviting a member of one's audience to point out the
deficiency in one's argument -- of course, one might also, deceitfully, be
concealing the obvious objection from a naive audience.
To beg the question also ignores one of the main requirements of a good
argument, that is, always to deal with the obvious objections to what one is
claiming; Isocrates, a Greek rhetorician, likened it to a situation in a
battle when one side attacks some unimportant part of the enemy's army while
being blind to his central attack. And there is the apocryphal Chinese
advice: always send three quarters of your speech on what one's opponent
has said against your position.
Edmond
Dr. Edmond Wright
3 Boathouse Court
Trafalgar Road
Cambridge
CB4 1DU
England
Email: [log in to unmask]
Website: http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/elw33/
Phone [00 44] (0)1223 350256
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