Topic: Instructor or Pedant

I promised an entry on “beg the question.” Here it is.

When you hear the phrase “beg the question” in modern conversation, it is almost invariably used incorrectly. Newscasters are extremely fond of using it, but they are mis-using it to be a synonym for “raise the question.”

For example, Corey Lidle’s plane crashes into a Manhattan skyscraper. The news people are shocked, and think maybe there is something the government could have done, but didn’t do, so they state “This accident begs the question, ‘Are officials doing enough to protect New York City?’” Well, the accident might well raise that question, but it doesn’t beg it. The questioner might want to beg for an answer, if he wants to be dramatic, but the situation did not beg a question.

Why not?

“Begging the question” is a term used in logic, debate and discourse for millennia. It means, essentially, to argue that something is true because it is true. It is a form of circular logic. When you are trying to prove a point in logic, you start with a base set of assumptions. If you then logically arrive at the point from those assumptions, you can have been said to have proven it. However, if you end up assuming your point in order to attempt to prove it, you have proven nothing; you are begging your question (the “question” is the point you intended to prove.)

An example would help. Let’s suppose I set out to prove that “X should be illegal.” I can start by arguing that if something is wrong, it should be illegal. (We might not agree that’s true, but for the sake of argument, let’s.) Then, perhaps I assert that breaking the law is wrong – which most of us can agree to. But then, if I point out that “X is illegal, hence X is against the law, hence X is wrong, hence X should be illegal” I am using circular logic. I have argued that something is true because it is true. I am guilty of begging the question.

Here’s one of the entries I found when I looked up “beg the question” at Dictionary.com:

beg the question

Take for granted or assume the truth of the very thing being questioned. For example, Shopping now for a dress to wear to the ceremony is really begging the question - she hasn't been invited yet. This phrase, whose roots are in Aristotle's writings on logic, came into English in the late 1500s. In the 1990s, however, people sometimes used the phrase as a synonym of "ask the question" (as in The article begs the question: "What are we afraid of?").

Now, I think the example the citation uses is not quite what Aristotle was thinking about, but you can see that the misuse of the phrase began recently.

To me, this is an example of how our language is losing its effectiveness. We have a perfectly good, meaningful phrase being distorted to mean something else – and we have plenty of good phrases which could be used instead.

My personal opinion on why this misuse occurs is this: people want to sound intelligent, so they use a phrase they have heard other intelligent people use – but they use it incorrectly.

 

Citations and references.

As is often the case, Wikipedia has a great explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beg_the_question

 

beg the question. (n.d.). The American Heritage? Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Retrieved October 15, 2006, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=beg the question

Topic: Instructor or Pedant
Definition:
Pedant:
1. a person who makes an excessive or inappropriate display of learning.
2. a person who overemphasizes rules or minor details.
3. a person who adheres rigidly to book knowledge without regard to common sense.
4. Obsolete. a schoolmaster.

I don't think I'm a pedant. But I clearly care more about proper use of words than many people do. It's my belief that if there is a good word or phrase for something, that word or phrase should be used properly. It should not be used to mean something else, and other words should not be substituted, especially if they do not share the same meaning.

In my previous entry, I mentioned that I should write a series of posts about commonly misused words or phrases. While I mentioned "beg the question" as my potential first entry, I've decided to start with "thence."

Definition:
thence:
1. from that place: I went first to Paris and thence to Rome.
2. from that time; thenceforth: He fell ill and thence was seldom seen.
3. from that source: Thence came all our troubles.
4. from that fact or reason; therefore: We were young, and thence optimistic.

I'm starting with "thence" because it is used -- incorrectly -- in the Apostle's Creed in the version of the LCMS hymnal we have used for years. In that version of the creed, it says "On the third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead."

That can't be right. "Thence" means "from that place." This means that the creed is saying "... at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from from that place He shall come..." A double "from" is incorrect.

Now, if you go to the web and search for Apostle's Creed -- even on an LCMS site -- the wording has been corrected. That's good. But for years and years and years the people who have read this have been using the word incorrectly. Yet, because they have seen it in an authoritative text, they assume it's right. And, since it seems to mean "there" (not "FROM there"), they are tempted to use it as a synonym -- and they probably think they sound educated when they misuse it!

Many of my usage peeves are related to this very point -- people try to sound smart by using words or phrases which sound educated, yet in the process they only serve to demonstrate the opposite to the knowledgeable, while spreading their mis-usage to the uninformed.

Here are some other similar words, phrases and pronunciations.

• "beg the question"
  
• "sojourn"
  
• "often" -- with a "t"
  
• "hopefully" -- though this one shows how misuse can cause "acceptability drift."
  

Perhaps I will get around to posting about them sometime.




Citations:
pedant. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1). Retrieved October 05, 2006, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=pedant


thence. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1). Retrieved October 05, 2006, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=thence

Anarchy? Permissivism? That's NOT what I meant.
The entry below about Right/Wrong - Legal/Illegal might be miscontrued.

I am not promoting anarchy.

Society can only function if we have rules for behavior. This is clear, and a cornerstone of my belief system.

Many of those rules must be codified into laws. I support that.

What I tried to say below was that moving something from the "frowned on by society" consequence to the "made to pay recompense, financially or with a loss of freedom" consequence needs to be carefully thought through. If I can be kicked out of school, or charged with impinging on someone's rights, for saying "X" -- well, I think "X" needs to be pretty darn bad, and pretty clearly bad. If it's merely insensitive, then people should be educated as to why it is, and how they might say it in a more sensitive way.

Similarly, if I do "Y" in the privacy of my own home, and it can lead to my incarceration, there should be a very good reason why "Y" is bad for me to do. There are plenty of things that justify being punished and jailed. Lots of bad "Y." But don't you think, given our society's history, we've been too quick to put something in this category? And then, once we've done so, we justify its continuing to remain illegal by saying "Clearly, it's Wrong -- it's illegal!" That, my friends, is truly begging the question!

(I should do a whole series of posts on words and phrases that are losing their meaning because of mis-use. "Beg the question" is on the top of the list.)

Right and Wrong -- Legal and Illegal
Mike and I had an interesting exchange of ideas in his blog a few weeks back.

I had not considered the personal aspects of some specific wording. He made his point. I accept it. We will never completely agree, but that's not necessary.

What the exchange pointed out to me, though, is a philosophical ideal which I have -- and it's related to whether things should be made illegal.

You see, I firmly believe that Right and Wrong exist. However, I do not believe that most of us, or society in general, has a good grasp on Wrong. It therefore bothers me when a subset of the population decides that it knows Wrong well enough to make a particular thing illegal.

Now, "illegal" might get you a fine, or thrown in jail, or worse. Or (and this is where we get back to the discussion) it might be that "illegal" gets defined as "unconstitutional" or "impinging on the rights of another."

I accept that many behaviors are ill-mannered or rude. Some are just plain Wrong. Heck, there are some which are unconscionable. But I have real trouble when society decides to make those behaviors "illegal" or "unconstitutional."

The difficult point for me is that people who absolutely agree with me on some Wrong, will entirely disagree with me on another.

If I say something, and in so doing I offend someone, I can certainly be criticized and/or corrected. But charged? Sued? If you're going to do that, I had better have been given clear guidelines, and the speech had better be pretty harmful.

The same sort of thing goes for my actions. I think society has gone too far in deciding certain actions are Wrong. While many (or even most) people might think some activity is Wrong, making it "Illegal" should only be done when there is a clear reason for it.

I've talked about it before -- and I know that it's not feasible -- but sometimes I wish we could have all laws "expire" every generation or so. Then people would be forced to reconsider their positions about illegality.

Well, this has been a rambling post. But perhaps my thoughts are clearer now.

And the First Shall Be ..... First
Topic: From a Father
Adam has moved out.

This is very, very strange.

As you no doubt know, Adam graduated from Luther last spring. He came back home to live with us until he found a place. In some sense, we were actively "pushing" him out. It's something Sherry and I decided to do for our kids long ago -- we believe that the analogy of a mother bird pushing her chicks out of the nest to force them to fly is apt. We knew it would be emotionally hard to see one of our kids move out. And, for me at least, it was. But we know it's ultimately for the best.

I expected to miss him immediately -- and I do. Somewhat strange, since I have seen so little of him lately -- his schedule and mine just don't provide much opportunity for seeing one another. Yet, of course, I knew I would have a feeling of nostalgic longing, mixed with parental pride. And I have that. In spades.

But what is unexpectdly working at my mind is how Adam is the one who gets to go through all this stuff first.
I mean, it makes sense, of course, but nevertheless, it's remarkable how many life milestones I reach which are directly connected to my firstborn.

This does not mean I do not mark, or feel, the milestones with the others. Lucas going off to college was a big deal. Sarah -- same thing. Leah getting dressed up for her first formal dance. They all affect me.

But when I first notice a new chapter in my life, it's almost always connected to Adam.

I wish him well, and I am amazingly proud of him.

Now, if I can just deal with the "missing."

Ummm, Going Forward, You?ll be Hearing This
There is a phrase sweeping the nation which is the latest example of corporate-speak infiltrating our daily discourse and providing no value whatsoever. The phrase? “Going Forward.”

How is it used? Every once in a while, it is used to mean “in the future” – and this is perhaps the usage which can be tolerated. Often, when people say “In the future” they are trying to teach a lesson, and the phrase points out that such a lesson is forthcoming, so pay attention. For example, “In the future, we must be more careful not to drop our brother down the well.” Notice that one could insert “Going forward” into that sentence with similar effect. Notice also, however, that neither phrase actually provides any other value. “We must be more careful not to drop our brother down the well” already contains the information that we are talking about a future event. Saying that we must be more careful “in the future” or “going forward” is redundant. Clearly, we are not going to be more careful in the past.

As it is most commonly used, however, “going forward” provides even less. Consider a typical comment from a corporate executive. “We need to work hard, going forward, if we are going to improve our profit picture.” Forget, for a moment about the use of “picture” in the sentence -- What does “going forward” mean in this context?

It means “Ummmm.”

The whole phrase is just a way to stop talking for a second or two without actually shutting down your mouth.

Unfortunately, this is typical of verbiage from the corporate world. Whole speeches are given which purport to contain information, direction or motivation, but which are in effect a collection of vacuous phrases.

If the Universal Translator (from Star Trek – you know what I mean) really exists, and some alien is monitoring the speech of our modern business executives, what they would really be hearing is:

“Ummmmmm. We need, ummmm, better profits. Ummmmm. It’s not my fault. Ummmm. Thank you.”

Oh, I forgot. From the typical executive, the “thank you” doesn’t mean anything either.

Make that “Ummmm.”

Movies we've seen recently

I try to keep track of the movies I've watched, and what I thought of them. I figured I'd post the most recent list, so here is a link to that. These are not all of the movies we've watched lately -- some of the others have entries further up in the main file in which I track these things. For example, we saw The Matrix and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade during this period also, but for movies we see often, I just add another "viewed" date.

As you can see, the number of movies is pretty long. Once school is out (and the network shows are done with their seasons) we hit the DVDs pretty hard. I love the "MVP" membership at Hollywood Video. $15/month gets me all the movies I want to see -- as long as I'm willing to wait until a DVD is 6-8 weeks old before I view it.

This is actually pretty easy to do. There are DVDs I will buy as soon as they come out, so I don't need to rent them. For anything else, I can wait. The only real danger is movies which have their DVD release at the end of the summer. Those I might forget about before we do another stretch of DVD renting.

Oh, in case it's interesting, the "Rating" I use is a 100-point scale. Generally speaking, I will consider buying a movie if I score it 80 or above.

Interested to know what the highest and lowest scores I've ever given are? Ask!

24
Now Playing: "Canon in D" by Pachelbel (of course)
Time for some word association -- or "number association" if you will. What do you think of when I say:

24

I think, these days, may people think of the Keifer Sutherland TV show.

Then there is "hours -- as in 24 hours in a day."

What else?

24 is two dozen. So that is helpful. Two dozen of something is a good amount. And an expensive amount, if you get the right thing. But it could make an impression. I hope it does!

24 karat gold is pure. So 24 can make you think of wealth, or preciousness, or purity.

24 is a cool number in a few ways:

• 24 = 1 * 2 * 3 * 4, which makes it a pure number (I think "pure" is the right term.....)
• 24 = 2 * 12 which is cool because
  • 12 is a completeness number, being the number of months in a complete year
  • 2 people living together year-round might be represented by 2 * 12
  • Or two particular people might have been married on the 12th of the month, and if that happened to be the 6th month, then we have another perfect number.
• 24 happens to be my birthday
• 24 happens to be Christmas Eve, often a highlight day of the year

What else? 24 inches is two feet. I have two feet. So does Sherry. Does that help?

I've been wracking my brain. Aside from the two dozen things, I can't think of anything affordable that represents 24. Believe me, 24 Karat gold is just not affordable, in any meaningful amount. An ounce is, like, $700 or so.

Now it is critical that you not go talking about this blog entry to Sherry -- at least not until after Monday. But if you want to send me an e-mail with some cool idea, feel free!

Back by popular demand
Now Playing: nothing -- why is it so quiet?
So Lucas told me yesterday he checks my blog every time he checks blogs, even though I have not added anything since December.

I know how disheartening that can be -- checking a blog that doesn't update.

For example, every time I view my blog, it doesn't have anything new in it.

So, you see, I know exactly how it feels.

So, this entry marks a new start. Let's see if I can come up with anything to say.

"Think" Fridays
Now Playing: "Can't Fight This Feeling" - REO Speedwagon
Where I work, we have been told to use Friday afternoons for thinking. "Think Fridays" they are called.

This actually has been very helpful, for me. You see, my job involves many meetings. Many. Really.
LOTS.

Well, the rules of "Think Fridays" say that you can't call meetings on Friday afternoons.
There are exceptions, but they involve customers or executives. So, some Fridays, I do end up with meetings.

But most Fridays, like today, I have no meetings scheduled in the afternoon. Now, for many people that allows them to think big thoughts, or work on programming projects. For me, it usually just means I get to catch up on the things I'm supposed to be doing but can't accomplish because of...

..... yep -- all those meetings.

So here it is, a "Think Friday" and a perfect time to just do some thinking, maybe some writing.

Writing such as this, for example. Happy Friday!