Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Soupçon, Fallacy Séries, 6.8

 'Begging the question' is the fallacy we are going to explore today. 'Begging the question' is an informal logical fallacy wherein an argument's premises assume the truth of its conclusion instead of providing independent proof.

It is yet another example of  circular reasoning or petitio principii,⁴ which is Latin for "assuming the original point".The argument uses the claim it is trying to prove as a foundational piece of evidence for that same claim.

In other words, such a sentence/such an argument fails to offer new information.  Instead, it re-states the conclusion in different words.  

 The best example for this type of fallacy comes from religious texts. "The Bible," for example, is is argued, "is true because it is the word of God, and we know it is the word of God because the Bible says so!" 

Pratima Agnihotri

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Soupçon, Fallacy Séries, 6.8

 'Begging the question' is the fallacy we are going to explore today. 'Begging the question' is an informal logical fallacy ...