Begging the Question

Here's my rough definition of Begging the Question

Begging the Question

Begging the Question is a fallacy where the conclusion itself is used as a basis of argument. I've seen this most often when people are in moral outrage mode and attempt to convey how bad something is by repeated saying it's bad without actually ever saying why. It is also called circular reasoning.

Example: (from Fallacy Files)

"To cast abortion as a solely private moral question,…is to lose touch with common sense: How human beings treat one another is practically the definition of a public moral matter. Of course, there are many private aspects of human relations, but the question whether one human being should be allowed fatally to harm another is not one of them. Abortion is an inescapably public matter."
Source: Helen M. Alvaré, The Abortion Controversy, Greenhaven, 1995, p. 23.

It is somewhat similar to the ban on using a word in it's own definition.

There is an informal/incorrect usage of the term “Begs the question” where, in fact, the speaker should probably instead say “Raises the question”.

Links:

Wikipedia: Begging the Question
Fallacy Files: Begging the Question