Begging The Question

Too much of what passes for information and facts is little more than fabricated opinion

Despite being incorrect, fallacies usually give the appearance of being correct and thereby encourage us into committing to and accepting them. Begging the question is an informal fallacy that occurs when an argument’s premises assume the truth of the conclusion. Which is to say, an attempt to support a claim with a premise that itself restates or presupposes the claim.

A similar version to begging the question is the fallacy of circular reasoning. Circular reasoning is not a formal logical fallacy but a defect in an argument whereby the premises are just as much in need of proof or evidence as the conclusion. In other words, there is no reason to accept the premises unless one already believes the conclusion, or the premises provide no independent ground or evidence for the conclusion.

Then there’s stoicism, which says the path to happiness is found in accepting the moment as it presents itself by using one’s mind to understand the world and to do one’s part by working together and treating others fairly and justly. Stoics assume the best indication of an individual’s philosophy is not what a person says but how a person behaves. Modern stoicism commonly refers to those who judge the quality of results emerging from what we refer to as day-to-day life.

And, finally, there is logic, which comes in a variety of types such as philosophical, informal, formal and mathematical. An argument is constructed by applying one of the forms of the different types of logical reasoning: deductive, inductive and adductive. In deductive reasoning, an argument is valid only if it takes a form that makes it impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false. It is not required for a valid argument to have premises that are actually true, but to have premises that, if they were true, would guarantee the truth of the argument’s conclusion.

For a pragmatist, these approaches to reality are part of critical thinking, which is the analysis of facts to form a judgment. Several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, unbiased analysis or evaluation of factual evidence. Critical thinking is not limited to those with above average intelligence, although these individuals are more likely to engage in this process by nature. Anyone of normal intelligence can learn how to think critically.

Critical thinking can and should be taught in schools, but this is not common in the US relative to other advanced societies. The result of this is students not knowing how to evaluate the veracity and quality of what they are exposed to in a variety of ways: online, television, friends, other students. Then, as adults, they are not prepared for the multitude of circumstances in which critical thinking is extremely valuable, including the ability to hold several possible answers to a given question without narrowing down to one answer prematurely.

Too much of what passes for information and facts is little more than fabricated opinion that would never survive critical thinking. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but not their own facts. This is where knowing how to parse and evaluate facts and data is essential — separating out what is only opinion and setting it aside. Rational scepticism invariably results in better conclusions that in turn result in better decisions. Principles and values alone are unlikely to result in these kinds of decisions.

The maelstrom over wokeness and cancel culture is greatest at the far left and right, where critical thinking is hard to find. This may offend those outside of the rational center, but it is an obvious reality because critical thinking is inherent in reasonable, rational thinking. This is a predictable result of not making radical assessments by ignoring the complex realities of most issues most of the time.

Pragmatism is a process that is linked to critical thinking. Fallacies will not result in pragmatic choices and decisions. This may appear to be stating the obvious, but any cursory assessment of much of what passes for problem solving will reveal an absence of actual, functional critical thinking.

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