London Congestion Charge: Cost-Benefit Analysis

London Congestion Charge: Cost-Benefit Analysis Road pricing is the application of various charges to the usage of roads. These charges include fuel taxes, tolls, parking taxes, licence fees, and congestion charges. Pricing may vary by time of day, or by the specific road or vehicle type using the road. The two main aims of road pricing are generating revenue and managing demand. The latter can be achieved through congestion pricing, which is a system of surcharging users of a transport network in periods of peak demand to reduce traffic volumes to optimal levels. This variable pricing strategy aims to regulate demand, thus enabling congestion management without increasing supply. Market economics theory, which includes the congestion pricing concept, proposes that road users will be forced to pay for the negative externalities they create, making them conscious of the costs they impose upon each other when consuming during the peak demand, and more aware of their environmental impact. The very notion of urban congestion pricing w as proposed in London as a response to the challenges faced by the Ministry of Transport around 1960. These challenges consisted of a significant increase in the number of new car registrations, the considerable cost of congestion for the road users due to the reduced average travel speed and corresponding delay, and other negative impacts on the environment. In this regard, the positive and negative aspects of the London congestion charge can be considered as follows: Positive Aspects Of The London Congestion Charge: Analysing the results of the TfL study(2003) indicates that the most important positive aspect of the London congestion charge is the time-saving to drivers and passengers of vehicles that continue to use the road system after charging is introduced including cars, taxis, buses, and commercial vehicles within and outside the charging zone. This is a common point highlighted by Leape(2006), Mackie(2005), Raux(2005) and Prudhomme and Bocajeros(2005). In addition to time-saving, a reduced travel time and an improved journey time reliability (of an average of 30%) are two other key positive aspects of the congestion charge(Leape,2006, Mackie,2005, Raux,2005 and PB,2005). Factors that contribute to these two positives include an almost 30% reduction in congestion, a 30% decrease in traffic delays inside the zone, an 18% decrease in traffic entering the zone during charging hours, and a 15% reduction in traffic circulating (vehicle Km) within the zone. Evidence on average travel speeds on roads inside the charging zone indicates that the all-day average network travel speeds increased from a pre-charging average almost 17% (Leape,2006). Other benefits include a considerable decrease in queuing time at junctions (Leape,2006), the environmental benefit of reducing the pollution emissions by 34% (PB,2005), and an improvement in safety, by 2-5% or 30-70 fewer accidents per year for Central London(Mackie, 2005). Through reallocating road space from private cars to public transportation (Leape,2006), the congestion charge has increased public transport patronage. For example, bus passengers entering the charging zone in the morning peak period rose by 38%, while number of private cars decreased by 16%, which in addition to direct time savings, reduced accidents and lowered carbon dioxide emissions (Leape,2006). Increased number of bus passengers and reduced average operating costs (increased speed, travel time reliability) have enabled providers to offer some combination of improved service levels (more routes, higher frequencies) and lower fares (Leape,2006). These effects can encourage an even greater use of public transport whilst also reducing average costs per passenger to transport providers, leading to further shifts from car travel to public transport, and an additional reduction in congestion. Negative Aspects Of The London Congestion Charge: The higher-than-expected set-up and operational costs for the congestion charge must be considered as the most prominent negative aspect. In London, the operational costs were more than twice the level initially estimated (implementation costs averaged  £95 million in the first two years). This resulted in the net annual revenue falling far short of expected levels (Leape,2006, Mackie,2005, Raux,2005 and PB,2005). A congestion charge is likely to have different effects across businesses and land value in the long term. Negative effects are the changing land-use patterns and reduced land value caused by a restriction on car mobility within the congestion charge area (Tehran Congestion Charge Study, 2005). This decrease in car trips could have an adverse impact on retail businesses located within the congestion area, whereas it could benefit those outside the zone (Leape,2006). Summary: Although the cost-benefit estimates for the London congestion charge, produced by Transport for London (2003a), is subject to some controversy by PB(2005), Mackie (2005) and Charles (2005), generally the London congestion charge has been both a political and practical success in reducing congestion and related negative externalities. It has also been met with a high level of satisfaction from most Londoners. As mentioned above, the time-savings to drivers and passengers of vehicles resulting from increased average speed and decreased delay is the most important positive aspect of congestion charging. Increasing reliability of travel time for car and bus, decreasing queuing time at junctions, decreasing the level of pollution emission and improving safety, as well as improving public transport patronage and improving its level of service all must be considered as positive aspects of congestion charges. In contrast, the high operational costs of running the scheme is the dominant negat ive aspect of congestion charging. This can significantly influence the net annual revenue for the congestion charging scheme. Moreover, other factors such as decreasing the flow of mobility in the congestion charging zone in the long term can lead to changing the land-use patterns and probably decreasing the land value. As mentioned by PB(2005) there were concerns that the diverting impact of the congestion charge could lead to higher levels of congestion on the inner ring road that borders the zone and the area surrounding congestion zone, which needs to be considered in more detail. Therefore, a degree of caution is appropriate before generalizing from the London experience.

Early Childhood Curriculum Essay

Introduction: Early Childhood is an important stage of children’s life. By interacting with people around (each other and the adults), children explore and make sense of the world around them. A successful early childhood curriculum should fulfill children’s need to give children rich experience at the most important developmental stage of their lives. This paper will critically discuss, compare and contrast High/Scope, Reggio Emilia to Te Whariki, at the end of this paper the author will talk about own philosophy of early childhood education. Hi/Scope Curriculum was developed in US in 1962 in Michcigan, this programme was designed for at risk children from low income families. There were significant issues for thildren from lower class society and especially African-American children which were shown to be low achievers and low IQ scores comparing with the same-age children in the other area at this time. In 1962 David Weikart of Ypsilanti, Michigan, became distressed at the inability of the local school system to produce literate, functional adults (Holt, 2007). As an experienced teacher, Weikart took a hard look at best practice and current educational theories. He wanted to discover a preschool curriculum that would generate better academic outcomes in later years and equip children to deal successfully with life as adults. With colleagues, Weikart initiated an experimental preschool programme, comparing the progress of his children with a control group of the same age kept at home. Thus the construction of the framework known as the High/Scope approach began. The main features of the program was regular visiting home bade by teachers, during which teachers shared information about children’s learning and development, children’s interesting was informed teacher by parents. This programme was implemented within a number of countries based on the model (Holt, 2007). The deprived neighbourhoods of Ypsilanti started to see a positive turn in children’s academic success, and the High/Scope approach spread. The success of Weikart’s approach was borne out by statistics gathered as the years went by: his High/Scope students achieved better job retention, higher earnings, lower arrest rates, and less dependency on social services. The High/Scope philosophy is based on the work of Jean Piaget, Piage suggests that â€Å"When the active school requires that student’s efforts come from the student himself instead of being imposed, and that his intelligence undertakes authentic work instead of accepting predigested knowledge from outside, it is simply asking that laws of all intelligence be respected† (cited in Dunlap, 1997, p. 56) Piaget used the term â€Å"active school† to refer to a child being involved in active exploration of and ecperimentation with the environment rather than the child passively listening to a teacher provide instruction. High/Scope focuses on the importantance of active learning (Dunlap, 1997). The HighScope Curriculum emphasizes active participatory learning. Active learning means students have direct, hands-on experiences with people, objects, events, and ideas. Children’s interests and choices are at the heart of the HighScope programs. Children are active learners, they learn best through the experiences that they gained from the world around them and their own discoveries (Holt, 2007). They construct their own knowledge through interactions with the world and the people around them. In active learning settings, adults expand children’s thinking with diverse materials and nurturing interactions environment. The Wheel of Active Learning High/Scope is often pictured as a ‘wheel’ rotating on the ‘hub’ of active learning—learning through hands-on involvement with people, materials, events, and ideas. High/Scope’s wheel of active learning has four ‘spokes’: Adult/Child Interaction, Learning Environment, Daily Routine, and Assessment. Adult/Child Interaction means that shared control between adults and children is central to the High/Scope Curriculum. In addition to sharing control, adults in a High/Scope classroom participate in children’s play, conversa as partners with them, focus on children’s strengths and offer them support, and encourage children’s problem solving. Lists of recommended ‘key experiences’ (58 of them) have been compiled and incorporated into the High/Scope curriculum, to further children’s mental, physical, social and emotional development. These key experiences fall into ten categories: creative representation, language and literacy, initiative and social relations, movement, music, classification, seriation, number, space, and time. Learning Experience/environment is about how High/Scope settings set out their rooms to support children’s choices and interest. In High/Scope settings, a well-defined interest areas that typically include a home area, art area, block area, toy area, and other areas that reflect the children’s interests. High/Scope classrooms follow a predictable sequence of events called the Daily Routine. The daily routine in a High/Scope classroom includes plan-do-review, small and large group time, outside time, transition times, and eating and resting times. Plan-do-review is a key component of High/Scope approach, children first plan what materials they want to work with, what they want to do and whom they want do it with. Once they have made a plan they can go and do it. Then, after this chosen work -time, the children discuss what they did and whether it was the same as or different from what they had planned. Another key element of High/Scope is Assessment. In High/Scope settings, teachers assess children’s development with comprehensive observations, they record daily anecdotes describing what children do and says. Teachers review these anecdotes and rate each child using an assessment tool that is organized into six areas of development several times a year. These scores will help the teachers design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities and can be used to explain children’s progress during conferences (Holt, 2007) Holt stressed that there are five basic ingredients of High/Scope approch: a variety of interesting Materials; the opportunity to explore and work with materials-Manipulation; the opportunity to choose materials and decide how to use them- Choice; children talk about their experiences and learning-Language; Support for adult. (Holt, 2007, p,13) Roopnarine and Johnson argued that teachers new to the High/Scope curriculum sometimes confusing about their roles. They should see themselves as actively observers and setting up problem solving situations for children (Roopnarine and Johnson, 2003). Generally, Sheinehart described the Validity of the High/Scope Reschool Education Model as: â€Å"The High/Scope model of preschool education is an open framework of educational ideas and practices based on the natural development of young children, developed by David Weikart and his colleagues in the 1960s. Based on the child development ideas of Jean Piaget, the High/Scope preschool model views children as active learners, who learn best from activities that they themselves plan, carry out, and reflect upon. Adults arrange interest areas in the learning environment; maintain a daily routine that permits children to learn actively; and join in children’s activities, asking questions that extend children’s plans and help them think through what they do. They encourage children to engage in a variety of key experiences that contribute to their own development. † (Sheinehart, 2003). Comparing with Te Whariki (the National Curriculum Framework for Early Childhood of New Zealand), Te Whariki is adopted Vygotsky’s sociolcultural approach, it is a bicultural document, which is written in both English and Maori. â€Å"The developers of Te Whariki developed a framework that has implemented a bicultural perspective, an anti-racist approach and reciprocal relationships with the Maori Community in New Zealand†(Soler &Miller, 2003, p,62) Reggio Emilia is a small town of about 130,000 people in Northern Italy. The approach was developed at the end of World War Two by the local community. Since then, â€Å"the city of Reggio Emilia has been developing an educational system for young children through the collaborative efforts of parents, teachers, and the general community, under the guiding influence of Loris Malaguzzi† (Hewett, 2001, p,95). In 1991, Newsweek magazine noted that in Reggio Emilia, there are 33 infant/toddler schools and preschools of the system were among the ten best school systems in the world. Over the last 35 years, a process of collaborative examination and snalysis of teaching and learning about children were carried out by the teachers in the Reggio Emilia schools. This examination and analysis has broadened constructivist theory, and the results have been demonstrated to experts in education. (Klein, 2007) So far, â€Å"the schools in Regil Emilia have grown out of a culture that values children, out of the intense commitment of group of parents, out of the leadership of a visionary man† (Neugebauer, 1994, p,67). The key elements of Reggio Emilia approach include: Child as active leaner; Environment as the third teacher; three parties (children, parents and teachers) collaborating in children’s learning; Making learning visible. Regio Emilia approach requires children to be seen as competent, resourceful, curious, imaginative, innovative and possessing a desire to interact and communicate with others. The role of collaboration among children, teachers and parent, the co-construction of knowledge, the interdependence of individual and social learning and the role of culture in understanding this interdependence. (Baji Rankin, 2004). The approach is based on work of Dewey, Paiget & Vygotsky, these multiple influences led Reggio Emilia approach see children as active and competent learner. (klein, 2007) Although the approach draws many ideas and theories of the great thinkers, â€Å"the fundamental philosophy serving to guide this approach is much more than an eclectic mix of theories† (Hewett, 2001, p. 99). Cooperation and collaboration are terms that stress the value of revisiting social learning. First of all, in term of cooperation, children must become member of a community that is working together, once there is a foundation of trust between the children and adults, collaboration start. An atelierista is a teacher who has a special training that supports the curriculum development of the children and other faculty members. Pedagogistas are built in as part of the carefully planned support system of the Reggio Emilia schools. They are educational consultants that strive to implement the philosophy of the system and advocate for seeing children as the competent and capable people they are. They also make critical connections between families, schools, and community. (Klein, 2007). â€Å"Documentation† is one of the special features of the Reggio Emilia approach, it uses the environment to explain the history of projects and the school coommunity. It serves many pruposes but the most important is used as a research tool for studing children’s learning porcesses. According to Hong (1998) : â€Å"Documentation is about what children are doing, learning and grasping and the product of documentation is a reflection of interactions between teachers and children and among children. Because it is done on a daily basis, is a medium through which teachers discuss curriculum, keep it fluid and emergent, and develop a rational for its course. It provids a growing theory for daily practice† (p, 51) One of  the highlights of Reggio Emilia is the complex long term exploratio of the porjects. The projects of Reggio Emilia always involves in everyday subjects rather than remote or academic ones, such as: weather, rainbows, sunlight, city life, etc and it always be long term projects. In a Reggio Emilia setting, it always includes an art studio and mini-art corners adjoining the individual classrooms. An professional artist is a standard member of staff, complementing the work of teachers by helping children communicate in their ‘hundred languages,’as Malaguzzi referred to children’s many ways of expressing themselves. The Reggio teacher plays a role of artful balacing between engagement and attention (Edwards, 1998). Classroom teachers work in pairs, organize environments rich in possibilites and provocations that invite the children to undertake extended exploration and problem solving. Teachers also are as documenters for the children, help them trace and revist their words and actions to make the learning visible. They provide instruction in tool and material use for children, help find materials and resources, and scaffold children’s learning. The Reggio Emilia teachers are unique because they offer themselves to the process of co-construction of knowledge, they release the traditional roles of the teachers and open doors to new possibilities. The teacher start with the use of the children’s own theories, promote disequlibrium, and help children to think about their thinking to facilitate new learning (Klein, 2007). Different than High/Scope, the environment of Reggio Emilia set up as a â€Å"third teacher†, it is believed beauty helps with concentration, the setting of Reggio Emila always very attractive and pleasing. Different with the other early childhood setting, the layout of typical school set up like the traditional Italian town square with a central, indoor piazza, kitchen and the courtyard. The layout of the setting encourages encounters communication and relationships. (Thornton and Brunton, 2007) The educators of Reggio Emilia view the school as a living organism which sharing relationships among the children, the teachers and the parents. The school produces for the adults, but above all for the children, a feeling of belonging in a world that is alive welcoming and authentic (Malaguzzi, 1994, p. 58). One of the criticisms of the Reggio Emilia approach is that it has been in the absence of a written curriculum and it is a lack of accountability to the wider society. (Soler and Miller, 2003) Any early childhood setting want to apply Reggio Emilia approach to one’s own practice must be careful with the different cultural background. As Hewett stressed that â€Å"Reggio Emilia approach is strongly influenced by a unique image of the child and deeply embedded within the surrounding culture† (2001, p. 99) The Reggio Emilia approach can not be simply coped, it must be carefully uncovered and redefined according to one’s own culture. Similar as Te Whariki, Reggio Emilia is based upon sociocultural principles and emphasizes a child (learner)- centered practice to teaching and learning. The difference between Te Whariki and Reggio Emilia is that Reggio Emilia is not a compromise between the demands of a National Curriculum. The educator of Reggio Emilia do not follow any predetermined national framework, so the Reggio Emilia is always referred to as an ‘approach’ or ‘educational system’ not as a ‘curriculum’ (Soler and Miller, 2003). Early Childhood is an important stage in children’s lives when they find out about and make sense of their surroundings by interacting with others. An ideal curriculum should highlight this tremendous capacity that children have to learn and develop, and the importance of everyone working together to give children rich experiences in these early years. As an early childhood educator, the author has been working in different early childhood settings. The approaches that the setting applied include Montessori, High/Scope and play based. In author’s opinion, the curriculum play the important role of early childhood education, teacher’s role of implementing the curriculum to the daily practical work is more important. Conclusion: Early childhood is the most important time of great opportunity for children’s learning and development. The early childhood curriculum should provide children enjoyable and challenging learn experiences so that children can grow and develop as competent and confident learners. In this paper, the philosophy, features and development of High/Scope and Reggio Emilia approach have been discussed. Meanwhile, the author compares these two curriculums with Te Whariki and talk about the philosophy of early childhood education as well. Reference list Edwards, C. , Gandini, L. , & Forman, G. (1998). The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia approach—advanced reflections. New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation. Hewett, V. M. (2001) Examining the Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education. Early Childhood Education Journal, 29(2), 95-100. Holt, N. (2007). Bringing the high/scope approach to your early years practice. Oxon,UK: Routledge. Klein, A. S. (2007). Different Approaches to Teaching: Comparing Three Preschool Programs. Available From: http://www. earlychildhoodnews. com/earlychildhood/article_print. aspx? ArticleId=367 [Accessed 17 February] Neugebauer, B. (1994). Unpacking My Question and Images: Personal Reflections of Reggio Emilia. Child Care Information Exchange, 3, 67-70. Newsweek (1991, Dec. 2). The 10 Best Schools in the World, and what we can learn from them. 51-64. Schweinhart, L. J. (2005). The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40. Ypsilanti, US: High/Scope Press. Soler, J. , & Miller, L. (2003). The Struggle for Early Childhood Curricula: a comparison of the English Foundation Stage Curriculum, Te Whariki and Reggio Emilia. International Journal of Early Years Education, 11(1), 57-67. Thornton, L. & Brunton, P. (2005). Understanding the Reggio approach: Reflections on the early childhood experience of Reggio Emilia. London, UK: David Fulton.

Mamluks

The emergent of Mamluks started under Hasan Pasha's whose intent was to strengthen his personal base of power by creating a group of disciplined military and civil functionaries committed uniquely to him and not to the government at Istanbul or the Arabs of Baghdad. A page corps was formed, originally recruited from local families but later composed almost exclusively of slaves imported from the Caucasus and Georgia (Thomas Philipp, Ulrich Haarmann, 1998. These slaves were instructed in reading and writing, but also horse-manship and swimming, a combination of martial and bureaucratic virtues making them superior to Turks and Iraqis as civil servants. Their training emphasized a sense of interdependence and â€Å"esprit de corps. † They were made to feel that they owed their privilege to their master and to the Mamluks institution. John Joseph Saunders in the â€Å"The History of the Mongol Conquests† noted that the Mamluks dominated the power elite, but as an alien force, and they were merciless to any suspected rival to their authority. A close disciplined fraternity, and the only effective civil and military organization within the country, they provided their pashas with the power of an independent monarch. He argued, nevertheless, Mamluk pashas at no time renounced allegiance to the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He went on to explain how they defended Iraq from the Wahhabis and Persians but did not create war on neighbors within the empire. They were the only Islamic dynasty that withstands the invasions of the Turks and Mongol. They were slave boy children captured and trained carefully groomed for life as military men. They were leaders’ corps of warrior-slaves, mostly from Turkic or Kurdish Central Asia, but also including some Christians from the Caucasus region of south-eastern Europe. They were called the Mamluks which literally mean slave. According to historians, Mamluks were young boys who were not Muslim and groomed to be Sunni Muslim soldiers( Saunders 2001). The Mamluk institution creates a lot speculation and comment among pre modern observers. Consequently, James Waterson reported that the Mamluks are the slave warriors of medieval Islam who overthrew their masters, defeated the Mongols and the Crusaders and established a dynasty that lasted three hundred years. He continued to say that these young boys turn out to be great soldiers. Interestingly, Halperin commented that at the same time as the Islamic world was combating off Christian Crusaders from Europe, the great Muslim general Saladin conquered Egypt in 1169, founding the Ayyubid Dynasty. He also stated that Saladan and his descendants used increasing numbers of Mamluk soldiers in their struggles for power. In fact, according Charles Halperin a researcher in the field of history commented how during this time the Crusaders controlled several small coastal principalities in the Holy Land. † He explained that during the war the Mongols approached the Mamluks offering them an alliance against the Muslims. The Crusaders' former enemies, the Mamluks, also sent representative to the Christians offering a deal against the Mongols. † They feared that the Mongols were a more immediate threat, the Crusader states opted to remain nominally neutral, but agreed to allow the Mamluks’ armies to pass unhindered through Christians’ occupied lands.

Logical Fallacies Begging the Question

Fallacy Name:Begging the Question Alternative Names:Petitio PrincipiiCircular ArgumentCirculus in ProbandoCirculus in DemonstrandoVicious Circle Explanation Begging the question is the most basic and classic example of a Fallacy of Presumption because it directly presumes the conclusion which is at question in the first place. This can also be known as a Circular Argument - because the conclusion essentially appears both at the beginning and the end of the argument, it creates an endless circle, never accomplishing anything of substance. A good argument in support of a claim will offer independent evidence or reasons to believe that claim. However, if you are assuming the truth of some portion of your conclusion, then your reasons are no longer independent: your reasons have become dependent upon the very point which is contested. The basic structure looks like this: 1. A is true because A is true. Examples and Discussion Here is an example of this most simple form of begging the question: 2. You should drive on the right side of the road because that is what the law says, and the law is the law. Driving on the right side of the road is mandated by law (in some countries, that is) - so when someone questions why we should do that, they are questioning the law. But if we offer reasons to follow this law and say because that is the law, we are begging the question. We are assuming the validity of what the other person was questioning in the first place. 3. Affirmative Action can never be fair or just. You cannot remedy one injustice by committing another. (quoted from the forum) This is a classic example of a circular argument - the conclusion is that affirmative action cannot be fair or just, and the premise is that injustice cannot be remedied by something that is unjust (like affirmative action). But we cannot assume the unjust-ness of affirmative action when arguing that it is unjust. However, it is not usual for the matter to be so obvious. Instead, the chains are a bit longer: 4. A is true because B is true, and B is true because A is true. 5. A is true because B is true, and B is true because C is true, and C is true because A is true. Religious Arguments Its not uncommon to find religious arguments that commit the Begging the Question fallacy. This may be because the believers using these arguments are simply unfamiliar with basic logical fallacies, but an even more common reason may be that a persons commitment to the truth of their religious doctrines may prevent them from seeing that they are assuming the truth of what they are attempting to prove. Here is an oft-repeated example of a chain like we saw in example #4 above: 6. It says in the Bible that God exists. Since the Bible is Gods word, and God never speaks falsely, then everything in the Bible must be true. So, God must exist. If the Bible is Gods word, then God exists (or at least did exist at one time). However, because the speaker is also claiming that the Bible is Gods word, the assumption is made that God exists to demonstrate that God exists. The example can be simplified to: 7. The Bible is true because God exists, and God exists because the Bible says so. This is what is known as circular reasoning — the circle is also sometimes called vicious because of how it works. Other examples, however, arent quite so easy to spot because instead of assuming the conclusion, they are assuming a related but equally controversial premise to prove what is at question. For example: 8. The universe has a beginning. Every thing that has a beginning has a cause. Therefore, the universe has a cause called God. 9. We know God exists because we can see the perfect order of His Creation, an order which demonstrates supernatural intelligence in its design. 10. After years of ignoring God, people have a hard time realizing what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad. Example #8 assumes (begs the question) two things: first, that the universe does indeed have a beginning and second, that all things that have a beginning have a cause. Both of these assumptions are at least as questionable as the point at hand: whether or not there is a god. Example #9 is a common religious argument which begs the question in a slightly more subtle way. The conclusion, God exists, is based upon the premise that we can see intelligent design in the universe. But the existence of intelligent design itself assumes the existence of a designer - that is to say, a god. A person making such an argument must defend this premise before the argument can have any force. Example #10 comes from our forum. In arguing that nonbelievers are not as moral as believers, it is assumed that a god exists and, more importantly, that a god is necessary for, or even relevant to, the establishment of norms of right and wrong. Because these assumptions are critical to the discussion at hand, the arguer is begging the question. Political Arguments Its not uncommon to find political arguments that commit the Begging the Question fallacy. This may be because so many people are unfamiliar with basic logical fallacies, but an even more common reason may be that a persons commitment to the truth of their political ideology may prevent them from seeing that they are assuming the truth of what they are attempting to prove. Here are some examples of this fallacy in political discussions: 11. Murder is morally wrong. Therefore, abortion is morally wrong. (from Hurley, p. 143) 12. In arguing that abortion is not really a private moral matter, Fr. Frank A. Pavone, National Director Priests for Life, has written that Abortion is our problem, and the problem of every human being. We are one human family. Nobody can be neutral on abortion. It involves the destruction of an entire group of human beings! 13. Executions are moral because we must have a death penalty to discourage violent crime. 14. You would think that taxes should be lowered because you are a Republican [and therefore your argument about taxes should be rejected]. 15. Free trade will be good for this country. The reason is patently clear. Isnt it obvious that unrestricted commercial relations will bestow on all sections of this nation the benefits which result when there is an unimpeded flow of goods between countries? (Quoted from With Good Reason, by S. Morris Engel) The argument in #11 presumes the truth of a premise that isnt stated: that abortion is murder. As this premise is far from obvious, is closely related to the point in question (is abortion immoral?), and the arguer doesnt bother mentioning it (much less support it), the argument begs the question. Another abortion argument occurs in #12 and has a similar problem, but the example is provided here because the problem is a bit more subtle. The question being begged is whether or not another human being is being destroyed - but that is exactly the point being disputed in abortion debates. By assuming it, the argument being made is that it is not a private matter between a woman and her doctor, but a public matter appropriate for the execution of laws. Example #13 has a similar problem, but with a different issue. Here, the arguer is assuming that capital punishment serves as any deterrent in the first place. This may be true, but it is at least as questionable as the idea that it is even moral. Because the assumption is unstated and debatable, this argument also begs the question. Example #14 might normally be considered an example of a Genetic Fallacy - an ad hominem fallacy which involves the rejection of an idea or argument because of the nature of the person presenting it. And indeed, this is an example of that fallacy, but it is also more. It is essentially circular to assume the falsehood of the Republican political philosophy and thereby conclude that some essential element of that philosophy (like lowering taxes) is wrong. Maybe it is wrong, but what is being offered here is not an independent reason why taxes should not be lowered. The argument presented in example #15 is a little bit more like the way the fallacy appears typically in reality because most people are smart enough to avoid stating their premises and conclusions in the same manner. In this case, unrestricted commercial relations is simply a long way of stating free trade and the rest of what follows that phrase is an even longer way of saying good for this country. This particular fallacy makes it clear why it is important to know how to take apart an argument and examine its constituent parts. By moving beyond the wordiness, it is possible to look at each piece individually and see that we have the same ideas being presented more than once. The U.S. governments actions in the War on Terrorism also provide good examples of the Begging the Question fallacy. Here is a quote (adapted from the forum) made about the incarceration of Abdullah al-Muhajir, accused of plotting to construct and detonate a dirty bomb: 16. What I do know is that if a dirty bomb goes off on Wall Street and the winds are blowing this way, then I and much of this part of Brooklyn are possibly toast. Is that worth possible violations of the rights of some psycho-violent street thug? To me it is. Al-Muhajir was declared an enemy combatant, which meant that the government could remove him from civil judicial oversight and no longer had to prove in an impartial court that he was a threat. Of course, incarcerating a person is only a valid means of protecting citizens if that person is, in fact, a threat to peoples safety. Thus, the above statement commits the fallacy of Begging the Question because it assumes that al-Muhajir is a threat, exactly the question which is at issue and exactly the question which the government took steps to ensure was not answered. Non-Fallacy Sometimes you will see the phrase begging the question being used in a very different sense, indicating some issue which has been raised or brought to everyones attention. This isnt a description of a fallacy at all, and while its not an entirely illegitimate use of the label, it can be confusing. For example, consider the following: 17. This begs the question: Is it really necessary for people to be talking while on the road? 18. Change of plans or a lie? Stadium begs the question. 19. This situation begs the question: are we all in fact guided by the same universal principles and values? The second is a news headline, the first and third are sentences from news stories. In each case, the phrase begs the question is used to say an important question is now just begging to be answered. This should probably be considered an inappropriate use of the phrase, but it is so common by this point that it cannot be ignored. Nevertheless, it would probably be a good idea to avoid using it this way yourself and instead say raises the question.