View source for Genetic fallacy

{{Short description|Fallacy where validity is determined by origin}}
The '''genetic fallacy''' (also known as the '''fallacy of origins''' or '''fallacy of virtue''')<ref name="Fallacious Arguments">{{cite web|title=A List Of Fallacious Arguments|url=http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html#genetic|access-date=6 October 2012}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> is a [[fallacy of irrelevance]] 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.<ref>''Attacking Faulty Reasoning: A Practical Guide to Fallacy-Free Arguments'' (Third Edition) by [[T. Edward Damer]], chapter II, subsection "The Relevance Criterion" (p. 12)</ref> Genetic accounts of an issue may be true and may help illuminate the reasons why the issue has assumed its present form, but they are not conclusive in determining its merits.<ref>''With Good Reason: An Introduction to Informal Fallacies'' (Fifth Edition) by S. Morris Engel, chapter V, subsection 1 (p. 198)</ref>

In ''[[The Oxford Companion to Philosophy]]'' (1995), it is asserted that the term originated in [[Morris Raphael Cohen]] and [[Ernest Nagel]]'s book ''Logic and Scientific Method''{{hsp}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to Philosophy |article=Genetic fallacy |editor-first=Ted |editor-last=Honderich |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-19-866132-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00hond }}</ref> (1934). However, in a book review published in ''The Nation'' in 1926, [[Mortimer J. Adler]] complained that ''The Story of Philosophy'' by [[Will Durant]] was guilty throughout of "the fallacy of genetic interpretation." Adler characterized the genetic fallacy generally as "the substitution of psychology for logic."<ref>Mortimer J. Adler, ''Philosopher at Large: An Intellectual Autobiography'' (New York: Macmillan, 1976), pp. 86–87.</ref>

==Examples==
<!-- Two examples are plenty, and we will only accept material that is sourced from a book (preferably a textbook) on logic. -->
From ''[[Attacking Faulty Reasoning]]'' by T. Edward Damer, Third Edition {{abbr|p.|page}}&nbsp;36:
{{quote|You're not going to wear a [[wedding ring]], are you? Don't you know that the wedding ring originally symbolized ankle chains worn by women to prevent them from running away from their husbands? I would not have thought you would be a party to such a sexist practice.}}

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:

{{quote|The objections of the Council's new bus timetable come only from private property developers, and can be ignored.}}

As the author points out, private developers may well have legitimate and knowledgeable opinions on such a matter.

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* {{annotated link|Ad hominem}}
* {{annotated link|Appeal to accomplishment}}
* {{annotated link|Appeal to nature}}
* [[Appeal to novelty]]{{snd}}The argument that a newer idea is superior
** [[Chronological snobbery]]{{snd}}The argument that an older idea is inferior
* {{annotated link|Appeal to tradition}}{{snd}}The argument that an older idea is superior 
* {{annotated link|Argument from authority}}
* {{annotated link|Association fallacy}}
* {{annotated link|Bulverism}}
* [[Etymological fallacy]]{{snd}}An assertion that the historical meaning of the word is its only true meaning
* "[[Not invented here]]"{{snd}}A dismissal of "foreign" ideas because they did not originate from the speaker's country, social group, or organization
* {{annotated link|Reactive devaluation}}
{{Div col end}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.friesian.com/genetic.htm Forms of the genetic fallacy]
*[http://www.fallacyfiles.org/genefall.html Fallacy files: Genetic fallacy]

{{Fallacies}}

[[Category:Genetic fallacies| ]]
[[Category:Relevance fallacies]]