Begging the question is one of those idioms in the English language that change meaning in front of our eyes.

Not that long ago, the accepted meaning of begging the question was a fallacy based on circular reasoning. Someone would make a point that, on the face of it, would support a conclusion but only by assuming the conclusion was correct.

Here’s an example:

Scott Farquhar is correct that where you work doesn’t matter if output is the same. But the problem is Scott assumes output is the same regardless of where people work without first demonstrating that it is so. Making an assumption frees him to conclude it is wrong to require employees to work ‘in an office’. Nowhere does he apparently consider that the output might not be the same. He is begging the question. It’s a fallacious argument.

The modern use of begging the question is to use it in the sense of prompting a question. Something that raises a question etc. Today’s excerpt from the Fin Review with Scott’s picture above serves equally well at demonstrating the modern usage: Scott Farquhar’s dress and personal grooming begs the question: does he want to avoid the office so that he can remain a slovenly disheveled mess at home, looking as if he had just been pulled through a hedge backwards?