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Begging the Question

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Assuming a proposition which, in reality, involves the conclusion. Thus, to say that parallel lines will never meet because they are parallel, is simply to assume as a fact the very thing you profess to prove. The phrase is a translation of the Latin term, petitio principʹii, and was first used by Aristotle.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Before the Lights
Before the Mast
Beg the Question (To)
Beggar
Beggars
Beggars Barm
Beggars Bullets
Beggar’s Bush
Beggar’s Daughter
Begging Hermits
Begging the Question
Beghards
Begtashi
Begue dentendement
Béguins
Begum
Behemoth (Hebrew)
Behmenists
Behram
Bejan
Bel-à-faire-peur