PHI 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Begging The Question, Begging, Grade Inflation

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHI 1101
• Professor: Sardar Hosseini

Document Summary

It attempts to get an answer to a question that carries with it the truth of an unproved assumption. This fallacy is an old trick: for instance, person a asks person b: are you still beating your wife? or. Have you stopped stealing from the till? . By answering either yes or no person b is forced to commit himself to the truth of the implicit assumption that he has beaten his wife in the past or has been stealing. The correct response: i reject the premise of your question. I have never beaten my wife or have never stolen from the till. 1. when will the honorable member stop lying to the house, and tell us the truth about the contracts? (assumes that mp has lied before) 2. when are you going to stop wasting your life and start doing some work around here? (assumes that the person has wasted his/her life before)