more begging of the question.

[Laurence Horn]

At 1:14 PM -0400 4/12/07, sagehen wrote:
>...
>~~~~~~~~~~
>The odd thing, to me, is why the expression "begging the question,"'
>borrowed  from the jargon of academic philosophy, where it means something
>quite different, ever came into use as  another way of saying "rais(ing)es
>the  question."  Is it  thought to sound more classy?  Begs for an answer,
>perhaps, but "begging the question"?
>AM

I think it's partly that the use of "beg" in "beg the question" (for
the fallacy of petitio principii) is pretty opaque, so it's been
reinterpreted as ordinary "beg", i.e. approximately "ask" or, in this
case, "bring up".  It's a bit like the opacity and eventual
reinterpretation(s) of "the exception that proves the rule" or
"Wherefore art thou(,) Romeo?"

LH

P.S.  Curiously, just as I was typing this, Lyle Lovett on my iTunes
was pointing out (in "Who Loves You Better") that "Some questions beg
for an answer/Like a poet begs for a rhyme".  Synchronicity strikes
again!)

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