When Did You Stop Beating Your Wife

The traditional example is the question "Have you stopped beating your wife?" Without further clarification, an answer of either yes or no suggests the respondent has beaten their wife at some time in the past. The famous question "Have you stopped beating your wife?"the example given in almost every discussion of this fallacypresupposes that you have beaten your wife prior to its asking, as well as that you have a wife. That is much like the old question, When did you stop beating your wife? said the receiver.

I cannot answer it directly, because I deny that I have failed to live up to the clause. Note: one of the most classic but crass examples of a loaded question is have you stopped beating your wife? or when have you stopped beating your wife?, which presupposes that the person being asked the question has been beating their wife. It's an explanation of why you deny the premise of the question.

The question does actually have a correct answer: if you have never beaten your wife, the correct answer is "no". But you don't say that, because to people who aren't logicians, "no" would carry a misleading implication. One of the toughest and most common is the infamous loaded question, "When did you stop beating your wife?" which implies that you have indeed been beating your wife.

"Have you stopped beating your wife?" is the classic example of the complex question. Ralph Keyes has traced this example back to a 1914 book of legal humor. Since then, he says, it "has .

. . become the standard allusion to any question that can't be answered without self-incrimination" (I Love It When You Talk Retro, 2009).

Theres a famous joke question: When did you stop beating your wife? The structure of the question is funny or disturbing because any response condemns you. The old question When did you stop beating your wife? underscores one of the prevalent myths in our society the belief that domestic immunity still exists. When did you stop beating your wife? It implies there was a time where you DID beat your wife.

Now, supposing you were having a conversation with a few people at a party, and somebody wanted to make you look bad. Instead of just blurting out, Hey! This guy beats his wife! They ask that question.