A logic in which the answers are attended to & the questions neglected is a false logic … you cannot find out what a man means by simply studying his spoken or written statements, even though he has spoken or written with perfect command of the language & perfectly truthful intentions.
In order to find out his meaning you must also know what the question was (a question in his own mind & presumed by him to be in yours)
RG Collingwood
It is also important to know how the media can turn this neatly around & leave us believing that the question an interviewee is answering is one which sprang, unprompted, from his own mind & not one which has just been put to him by the journalist
Related post: Exams 2: Ask a simple question
