Monday, March 14, 2011

Tales from Facebook: "Begging the Question"

This was the hed, and the description of a vid linked on FB:
The universe is huge
www.youtube.com
The sheer size of the universe and our true place within it challenges the view that God created it just for us. Adapted from Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot"
6 minutes ago · Like · · Share

This is the vid:

This is what I wrote:
Woody Wiqiliques Konopak Here's a good example of "begging the question/petitio principii": The sheer size of the universe and our true place within it challenges the view that God created it just for us.
Because it has nowhere yet been established the 1) there exists such a being as "God," or that if there were such, that it could "create" this gigantic universe. It assumes that which is to be proven. That's "begging the question" means.
It's always nice when such a perfect case drops into yer lap. The misappropriation of "beg the question" is one of those things that sets my teeth on edge.

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