Begging the Question

"Begging the question" is a type of circular logic.

• The argument is circular because it requires the desired conclusion to be true.
• The key difference here is that the fallacy's presence is hidden.

Also known as "raising the question" or "suggesting the question", but it is distinct from "dodging the question".

This form of arguing works by making a true statement that depends on the absolute truth of some underlying assumption

• ex. "green is the best color, because it is the greenest of all colors"‚ here it is assumed that the greener the color is, the better it is. Yes, it's true that green is the greenest of all colors, but there is an underlying assumption that the argumentor is making.
• ex. "Law is the best system that mankind ever made, because it enabled all other important systems to exist"
  • this statement would suggest, therefore that Law is a greater system than say, computers— simply because it enabled all other systems to exist in the first place (the argument goes, if there was no inherent and fundamental understanding of law and order between citizens, we would never have gotten to a state where a computer could be developed.).
  • This argument is an example of begging the question, because it presupposes that the most important form of measurement for the greatness of a system is that it enabled other systems to exist. This is bad logic because the criteria for importance is entirely subjective.