The genetic fallacy (also known as the fallacy of origins or fallacy of virtue)
is a
fallacy of irrelevance
An irrelevant conclusion, also known as ''ignoratio elenchi'' () or missing the point, is the informal fallacy of presenting an argument that may or may not be logically valid and sound, but (whose conclusion) fails to address the issue in questi ...
in which arguments or information are dismissed or validated based solely on their source of origin rather than their content. In other words, a claim is ignored or given credibility based on its source rather than the claim itself.
The fallacy therefore fails to assess the claim on its merit. The first criterion of a good argument is that the premises must have bearing on the truth or falsity of the claim in question. Genetic accounts of an issue may be true, and they may help illuminate the reasons why the issue has assumed its present form, but they are not conclusive in determining its merits.
In ''
The Oxford Companion to Philosophy
''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'' (1995; second edition 2005) is a reference work in philosophy edited by the philosopher Ted Honderich and published by Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of ...
'' (1995) it is asserted that the term originated in
Morris Raphael Cohen
Morris Raphael Cohen ( be, Мо́рыс Рафаэ́ль Ко́эн; July 25, 1880 – January 28, 1947) was an American philosopher, lawyer, and legal scholar who united pragmatism with logical positivism and linguistic analysis. This union co ...
and
Ernest Nagel
Ernest Nagel (November 16, 1901 – September 20, 1985) was an American philosopher of science. Suppes, Patrick (1999)Biographical memoir of Ernest Nagel In '' American National Biograph''y (Vol. 16, pp. 216-218). New York: Oxford University Pr ...
's book ''Logic and Scientific Method'' (1934). However, in a book review published in ''The Nation'' in 1926,
Mortimer J. Adler
Mortimer Jerome Adler (December 28, 1902 – June 28, 2001) was an American philosopher, educator, encyclopedist, and popular author. As a philosopher he worked within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. He lived for long stretches in N ...
complained that ''The Story of Philosophy'' by
Will Durant
William James Durant (; November 5, 1885 – November 7, 1981) was an American writer, historian, and philosopher. He became best known for his work '' The Story of Civilization'', which contains 11 volumes and details the history of eastern a ...
was guilty throughout of "the fallacy of genetic interpretation." Adler characterized the genetic fallacy generally as "the substitution of psychology for logic."
[Mortimer J. Adler, ''Philosopher at Large: An Intellectual Autobiography'' (New York: Macmillan, 1976), pp. 86–87.]
Examples
From ''
Attacking Faulty Reasoning
''Attacking Faulty Reasoning'' is a textbook on logical fallacies by T. Edward Damer that has been used for many years in a number of college courses on logic, critical thinking, argumentation, and philosophy. It explains 60 of the most commonl ...
'' by T. Edward Damer, Third Edition p. 36:
There are numerous motives explaining why people choose to wear wedding rings, but it would be a fallacy to presume those who continue the tradition are promoting sexism.
Another example would be from ''How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic'' (2006) by Madsen Pirie, p. 82:
As the author points out, private developers may well have legitimate and knowledgeable opinions on such a matter.
See also
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Appeal to novelty
The appeal to novelty (also called appeal to modernity or ''argumentum ad novitatem'') is a fallacy in which one prematurely claims that an idea or proposal is correct or superior, ''exclusively'' because it is new and modern. In a controversy be ...
The argument that a newer idea is superior
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Chronological snobbery
Chronological snobbery is an argument that the thinking, art, or science of an earlier time is inherently inferior to that of the present, simply by virtue of its temporal priority or the belief that since civilization has advanced in certain areas ...
The argument that an older idea is inferior
* The argument that an older idea is superior
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Etymological fallacy
An etymological fallacy is committed when an argument makes a claim about the present meaning of a word based exclusively on that word's etymology. It is a genetic fallacy that holds a word's historical meaning to be its sole valid meaning and th ...
A fallacy of assuming that the historical meaning of the word is the base of its true meaning
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Not invented here
Not invented here (NIH) is the tendency to avoid using or buying products, research, standards, or knowledge from external origins. It is usually adopted by social, corporate, or institutional cultures. Research illustrates a strong bias against i ...
"A dismissal of "foreign" ideas because they did not originate from the speaker's country, social group, or organization
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Notes
External links
Forms of the genetic fallacy
{{Fallacies
Relevance fallacies