Begging-the-question is a form of circular reasoning in which the conclusion of an argument is presupposed by one of its premises, so the argument provides no independent support for what it purports to prove. Parameters: (1) a conclusion C appears in the premises either verbatim or under synonymy, (2) the arguer presents the reasoning as if C were being established rather than assumed, (3) the apparent validity masks the lack of independent grounds. Persists through formal logic pedagogy, debate criticism, and argumentation theory texts that catalog the pattern across natural language and formal systems. [formal: petitio principii | substrate: mind | horizon: a moment | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
begging-the-question
Begging-the-question is a form of circular reasoning in which the conclusion of an argument is presupposed by one of its premises, so the argument provides no independent support for what it purports to prove. Parameters: (1) a conclusion…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A logical fallacy in which the conclusion of an argument is assumed as a premise, reasoning circularly so that the point to be proved is already taken for granted in the supporting argument
Names and aliases
- begging-the-questionen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrtrh7ri001jv7fatx3t7olxINSTANCE_OF →
begging-the-question is a specific kind of logical fallacy: circular reasoning where the conclusion is assumed as a premise. INSTANCE_OF: specific → general.
- cmrn2b9bk01v9d1nlws1gj4eaINSTANCE_OF →
Begging-the-question (petitio principii) IS a specific kind of logical fallacy — an argument whose conclusion is assumed in its premises. A competent speaker calls it 'a fallacy.' Direction specific→general.
- cmrv4qbzb0032rvr7rxxob2lhDEPENDS_ON →
Begging the question operates by having the conclusion assumed in the premises. The fallacy's mechanism is the operation of an assumption masquerading as support. Remove the concept of assumption and this fallacy cannot operate — it is structurally constituted by assumption, not merely associated with it.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 20, 2026, 9:50 PM UTC
- Content hash
- b24e72720de99e9a85236f21dd1487a572c43333521a7f7457cc61da6dd9ef23