Transcript Begging The Question - Kentucky Department of

Begging The Question
Kelsey Turner and Chelsey White
Definition of Fallacy
Begging the question is also known as circular
reasoning.
"Begging the question" is a form of logical fallacy
in which a statement or claim is assumed to be
true without evidence other than the statement or
claim itself. When one begs the question, the initial
assumption of a statement is treated as already
proven without any logic to show why the
statement is true in the first place.
Picture of Begging The Question
Universal Example
John: "God must exist."
Jane: "How do you know."
John: "Because the Bible says so."
Jane: "Why should I believe the
Bible?"
John: "Because the Bible was written
by God."
Examples from The Crucible
Act 1, Page 185:
Rebecca: Goody Ann!
You sent a child to
conjure up the dead?
Mrs Putnam: Let god
blame me, not you, not
you, Rebecca! I’ll not
have judging me any
more! Is it natural work
to lose 7 children
before they live a day?
She says that her
kids are dying
because of a
curse, but there is
no way that this
could possibly
happen. So she is
blaming something
on another event
without reasoning.
Example from The Crucible
Act 3, page 207
Martha Corey: I am
innocent to a witch.
I know not what a
witch is.
Hathorne: How do
you know, then,
that you are not a
witch?
She claims she’s
not a witch, but
Hathorne wants to
know how she
knows she’s not a
witch if she doesn’t
know what a witch
really is.
Citation
"Fallacy: Begging the Question." Holocaust Educational
Resource. The Nizkor Project. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.
"Beggars Can't Be Choosy." People's Daily Brief. 4 July 2007.
Web. 21 Apr. 2011.
"Circular Reasoning « Nash's World." Nash's World. Web. 21
Apr. 2011.