Etymological fallacy
An etymological fallacy is an
argument of equivocation, arguing that a word is defined by its etymology, and that its customary usage is therefore incorrect.[1][2]
History
language purists.[1]
Occurrence and examples
An etymological fallacy becomes possible when a word's meaning
etymon.[1]
An example of a word with a potentially
Jewish beliefs and practices, and explicitly defined Jewish people as a racial class. Modern anthropology and evolutionary biology overwhelmingly reject the concept of race,[3][4] and the term Semite is rarely used anymore except in discussing Semitic languages. An etymological fallacy emerges when a speaker asserts that antisemitism is not restricted to hatred of Jews, but rather must include opposition to all other Semitic peoples.[5][6] However, sources like Encyclopædia Britannica still consider it a misnomer. [7]
See also
- Folk etymology – Process of reinterpretive word formation
- Genetic fallacy – Fallacy of irrelevance
- Informal fallacy – Form of incorrect argument in natural language
- Persuasive definition – Stipulative, biased definition of a term
References
- ^ ISBN 90-272-3698-4.
- ^ Wilson, Kenneth G. (1993). "Etymological Fallacy". The Columbia Guide to Standard American English.
- ^ Templeton, A. (2016). EVOLUTION AND NOTIONS OF HUMAN RACE. In Losos J. & Lenski R. (Eds.), How Evolution Shapes Our Lives: Essays on Biology and Society (pp. 346–361). Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv7h0s6j.26.
- ^ Wagner, Jennifer K.; Yu, Joon-Ho; Ifekwunigwe, Jayne O.; Harrell, Tanya M.; Bamshad, Michael J.; Royal, Charmaine D. (February 2017). "Anthropologists' views on race, ancestry, and genetics". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 162 (2): 318–327. doi:10.1002/ajpa.23120. PMC 5299519. PMID 27874171.
- ISBN 978-0-80524337-6.
- ^ "Encyclopedia Britannica: Semitic people can't be called antisemitic". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2022-02-04. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ "Origins and concept of anti-Semitism | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
Further reading
- Gula, Robert J. (2002). Nonsense: A Handbook of Logical Fallacies. Axios Press. pp. 48, 161. ISBN 0-9661908-5-8.
- Steinmetz, Sol (2008). Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change Meanings. Random House Reference. ISBN 978-0-375-42612-4.
- Zenker, Frank (2002). The Etymological Argument - Fallacy or Sound Move. Munich. )