<head> web conference: October 24-26, 2008

2.08.2008

What 'begs the question'?

What 'begs the question' explained in a way that will not only make your head spin, but make perfect sense.

Here's a small excerpt from The Morning News:

Structurally, the above argument(Circular Reasoning) would look something like this:

* x implies y
* Assume x
* Therefore, y

Make a little more sense? Good. Let's move on to a slightly more complex version of this type of argument:

* Barack Obama will beat Hillary Clinton in the California democratic primary this coming Tuesday provided young people like me just get off their lazy asses and vote!
* It was?
* Fuck.

While circular arguments are technically valid, they aren't really recommended unless you are trying to prove the theory of intelligent design or something comparable. Again, I'm no logician, but it's a basic explanation that I hope will suffice.


The whole article is worth a quick read, if just to say that you've read it, which would make you smarter, if you weren't already the smartest person in the world.

:)

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