History Main / CircularReasoning

The simplest form of this is a tautology; see also ShapedLikeItself and FamousForBeingFamous.

** [[FlameBait And that's all we have]] [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment to say about that.]]

* Roxy and Kanaya in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'':
-->ROXY: so you are roses girlfriend right?\\
KANAYA: I Dont Know\\
KANAYA: Is That What Humans Call A Matesprit When The Matesprit Is A Girl\\
ROXY: umm\\
ROXY: i dunno\\
ROXY: is a matesprit the thing trolls call each other when they are girlfriends or boyfriends with each other?\\
KANAYA: Yes\\
ROXY: ah ha!\\
ROXY: then uh\\
ROXY: the answer is yes?\\
KANAYA: Yes

* Rose and Kanaya in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'':

BeggingTheQuestion used recursively. A is true because B is true. B is true because C is true. C is true because A is true. The proof simply circles around and around, with nothing in it that isn't being proved by itself. This is a {{logical fallac|ies}}y, because it disallows the possibility that ''all three'' are false and, like BeggingTheQuestion, presupposes the truth of the thing it's supposed to be providing an argument to prove the truth of. To summarize, the one using it thinks that their claim proves itself.

* Directly invoked by the narrator in ''FanFic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed'', in which she states that if Celestia was willing to lie about the Hearth's Warming Eve Paegent first, then she would be willing to lie about the Hearts and Hooves Day legend too, as she would have experience in lying. But if she lied about the Hearts and Hooves Day legend first, then she would clearly also lie about the Hearth's Warming Eve Paegent, as it held much greater significance.

* In ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' episode, "Five Characters in Search of an Exit," when the major pounds on the wall, the clown sings, "We're here because we're here because we're here because we're here."[[note]]This line came from a World War 1 song reflecting soldiers' increasing disillutionment with the war, in that they no longer, in fact, knew why they were there.[[/note]]

[[folder:Fan Fic]]

* According to Creator/IsaacAsimov, this was used in [[TheDungAges the Middle Ages]] as an excuse not to educate women; all intelligent people know Latin, but women don't know Latin so they must be stupid, which means that there's no point in teaching them Latin (or anything else). This is also the fallacy of confusing knowledge with intelligence, which [[InsultFriendlyFire also]] underpins large parts of so-called "[[UsefulNotes/IQTesting intelligence tests]]".

* The same policy is played with in ''Literature/TheLaundrySeries'', where the Laundry bosses are more logical. Pinky and Brain are ''required'' to attend Pride every year, thereby proving that their sexuality is not a secret that could be held over them.

'''Secretary of State''': It's...what they use to make Brawndo!\\

** In practice, the usual definition of monarch is "ruler who gained his/her position by virtue of his/her bloodline", i.e. being the head of the nation's royal family. This distinguishes a monarchy (in which rulership is hereditary) from a republic (in which rulership is granted by a votimg body). The question now becomes howw the royal family gained the status of "royal family" in the first place, and the answer to that question can only be found in the very beginning of the civilzation in question (or the most recent coup d-etat). Furthermore, either a monarchy or a republic can devolve into a dictatorship, the key aspect of that being a ruler seeking to gain, exert, and maintain effectively absolute power. (Many modern dictatorships are republics-in-name-only where elections are blatantly rigged so that only the current ruler has any chance whatsoever of winning (usually by means of anyone who doesn't vote for the current ruler being hunted down and slaughtered), Iraq under the rule of Saddam Hussein being a textbook example.)

-->The Boy Scouts, as by now you know, has decided to allow in gay scouts while keeping two prohibitions. The first is that which prevents gay scout leaders. The second, which has gone mostly without notice, is the prohibition on sexual activity by scouts. This has put many Christians in a position they never asked to be in, in a fight they never asked for ''— if being gay is not a sin, but homosexual practice is a sin, how then are they to exclude gay scouts who cannot practice homosexuality?''
* Try discussing with TheFundamentalist about the existence of God, as well as His, and by proxy his follower's rights to decree what's right or wrong and how people should live their lives. Constantly they'll begin answering with increasingly TautologicalTemplar, KnightTemplar and HolierThanThou reasoning, which are very much examples ("God is Right because he's God, and God is always right, so therefore all I do, as long as I'm doing it for Him, is also right!").
** The circular reasoning here isn't actually that the fundamentalist is right because God is right, but rather that God is right because he's God. The "I'm right because I do things in His name" is a logical fallacy. Of course, theologians throughout history have come up with any number of elaborate and sophisticated arguments concerning this, but TheFundamentalist is rarely a very good theologian.
** In the same vein, much of the "proof" that any given religion's holy book is true- and a traditional, time-honored defense of them- is because it says so.
** [[FlameBait And that's all we have to say about that.]]
* Before it gained more acceptance, being gay and holding any sort of government-related position was (and still can be, depending on the government) a fireable offense, due to the belief that gay people would be inherent security risks. Of course, the reason they were ''guaranteed'' security risks were because of this policy - blackmailer finds out employee is gay, employee has to capitulate to the blackmail or else lose their job.

* A fundamental part of any conspiracy is that the evidence supporting the theory doesn't exist because the ones responsible are suppressing the evidence. The lack of evidence proves their guilt, because if they weren't guilty they wouldn't have any reason to hide the evidence.

** One suggested solution was to take the "volunteers that visit people in prison"-program, that has people from all walks of life get a scheduled visit with a random prisoner. After about fifty visits they would be given a "potential Breivik" stamp in their folder. Authorities would then go through the Breivik-stamps, go through their background and political affiliation. After they have cleared that they would be put on the actual Breivik-list and would then be randomly selected to visit Breivik and talk with him while prison guards listened in on every word that is said (and the person chosen would of course always have the choice to say "Thanks, but no thanks" after which they would move on the next person on the list).

* In 2016, convicted terrorist Anders Breivik sued the Norwegian State for about everything he disliked since he was imprisoned. The neutral court gave him exactly one win: It is against his human rights to be deprived of human contact while in prison. Norway's explanation? "We can't force people to visit Breivik, so the only people that we can allow to visit Breivik is people that want to do it, but precisely those are the people that [=REALLY SHOULDN'T=] be allowed to visit Anders Breivik."
** One suggested sollution was to take the "volunteers that visits people in Prison"-program, that have people from all walks of life get a scheduled visit with an random prisoner. After about fifty visits they would be given a "potential Brevik" stamp in their folder. Authorites would then go through the Brevik-stamps, go through their background and political afficilliation. After they have cleared that the would be put on the actual Brevik-list that would then be randomly selected to visit Brevik and talk with him while prison guards listen in on every word that is said (and the person choosen would of course always have the choice to say "thanks, but no thanks" after which they would move on the next person on the list.)

** One suggested sollution was to take the "volunteers that visits people in Prison"-program, that have people from all typer of life get a scheduled visit with an random prisoner. After about fifty visits they would be given a "potential Brevik" stamp in their folder. Authorites would then go through the Brevik-stamps, go through their background and political afficilliation. After they have cleared that the would be put on the actual Brevik-list that would then be randomly selected to visit Brevik and play chess with him while prison guards listen in on every Word that is said (and the person choosen would of course always have the choice to say "thanks, but bo thanks" after which they would move on the next person on the list.)

** One suggested sollution was to take the "volunteers that visits people in Prison"-program, that have people from all typer of life get a scheduled visit with an random prisoner. After about fifty visits they would be given a "potential Brevik" stamp in their folder. Authorites would then go through the Brevik-stamps, go through their background and political afficilliation. After they have cleared that the would be put on the actual Brevik-list that would then be randomly selected to visit Brevik and play chess with him while prison guards listen in on every Word that is said.

** One suggested sollution was to take the "volunteers that visits people in Prison"-program, that have people from all typer of life get a scheduled visit with an random prisoner. After about fifty visits they would be given a "potential Brevik" stamp in their folder. Authorites would then go through the Brevik-stamps, go through their background and political afficilliation. After they have cleared that the would be put on the actual Brevik-list that would then be randomly selected to visit Brevik and play chess with him while prison guards listen in on every Word that is

** One suggested sollution was to take the "volunteers that visits people in Prison"-program, that have people from all typer of life get a scheduled visit with an random prisoner. After about fifty visits they would be given a "potential Brevik" stamp in their folder. Authorites would then go through the Brevik-stamps, go through their background and political afficilliation. After they have cleared that the would be put on the actual Brevik-list that would then be randomly selected to visit Brevik and play chess with him while prison guards listen in on every Word that is said.
[[//folder]]

** One suggested sollution was to take the "volunteers that visits people in Prison"-program, that have people from all typer of life get a scheduled visit with an random prisoner. After about fifty visits they would be given a "potential Brevik" stamp in their folder. Authorites would then go through the Brevik-stamps, go through their background and political afficilliation. After they have cleared that the would be put on the actual Brevik-list that would then be randomly selected to visit Brevik and play chess with him while prison guards listen in on every Word that is said. [[//folder]]

* In 2016, convicted terrorist Anders Breivik sued the Norwegian State for about everything he disliked since he was imprisoned. The neutral court gave him exactly one win: It is against his human rights to be deprived of human contact while in prison. Norway's explanation? "We can't force people to visit Breivik, so the only people that we can allow to visit Breivik is people that want to do it, but precisely those are the people that [=REALLY SHOULDN'T=] be allowed to visit Anders Breivik."[[/folder]]

* In 2016, convicted terrorist Anders Brevig sued the Norweigan State for about everything he disliked since he was imprisoned. The neutral court gave him exactly one win: It is against his human rights to be deprived of human contact while in prison. Norway's explanation? "We can't force people to visit Brevig, so the only people that we can allow to visit Brevig is people that want to do it, but precisely those are the people that [=REALLY SHOULDN'T=] be allowed to visit Anders Breivig."[[/folder]]

* ''Radio/TheMenFromTheMinistry'': How does Mr. Lamb remember the to read the notes on the blotter? He has a notebook in which he writes notes to look a the blotter. How does he remember to look at the notebook? He has a reminder on the blotter.

BeggingTheQuestion used recursively. A is true because B is true. B is true because C is true. C is true because A is true. The proof simply circles around and around, with nothing in it that it isn't being proved by itself. This is a {{logical fallac|ies}}y, because it disallows the possibility that ''all three'' are false and, like BeggingTheQuestion, presupposes the truth of the thing it's supposed to be providing an argument to prove the truth of. To summarize, the one using it thinks that their claim proves itself.