Talk:genophilia

Not in the OED. Protologism?. (needs formatting) SemperBlotto 13:10, 23 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Coined by the white supremacist movement in 2001 as part of the "justification" for genocides, etc ... first google hit is Stormfront. Very unpleasant, but probably citable if someone wants visit those sites. Robert Ullmann 13:17, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

It's in Wikipedia too. I was checking this out earlier....it may have been coined by different people at different times...there are cites which predate the current buzz-word sense, with apparently different meanings. Widsith 13:39, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

Our definition is apparently taken verbatim from Thomas Fleming's 2004 book The Morality of Everyday Life: Rediscovering an Ancient Alternative to the Liberal Tradition, page 58: "[&hellip;] Lord Acton did not grasp the fundamental and enduring importance of the instinctive attachment to family and tribe that has no name in English or in most European languages. [&hellip;] If we were to coin a term to describe such an attachment, it might be something like genophilia " (italics his, underline mine), found via b.g.c. Fleming's Wikipedia article (Thomas Fleming (author)) does make it sound like he's a white supremacist. —RuakhTALK 14:25, 23 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I've added some cites back to the late 19th century, and removed RFV. Seems like it was invented by Sir Francis Galton, the same guy who gave us eugenics.  Poor guy's not had much luck, has he....  Widsith 09:57, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

RFV passed DAVilla 19:18, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Not by Galton
I recently came across the terms 'genophilia' and 'genophile', which appear to be used mainly by far-rightists to mean something like 'instinctive love of one's own race'. I was interested to see that the origin of the term was ascribed to Francis Galton. As a historian who has studied Galton's works I did not recall him using this term, so I was curious to find its source.

On further searching I came across the Wiktionary entry on 'genophilia', which currently contains the following passage:

"1883: We would include among our standards of eugenic value sound physical health and good physique, intelligence, and moral qualities which make for social cohesion. The latter would comprise courage (but not aggressiveness), serenity or contentment, and cooperativeness. We would also here include the quality described above as genophilia (love of children). — Sir Francis Galton, Inquiries into Human Faculty and Development (Macmillan 1883)"

I have been unable to find this passage in Galton's 'Inquiries into Human Faculty' or any other of Galton's works. The substance and style of the passage are vaguely Galtonian, but there are three points of difficulty:

-  I cannot imagine Galton using the word 'serenity' in this way - Galton usually referred to 'ability' rather than 'intelligence' - Galton usually put some emphasis on 'energy' as a desirable quality, but it is not mentioned in this passage.

Galton's own best-known listing of desirable eugenic qualities is 'health, energy, ability, manliness and courteous disposition' (Essays on Eugenics, 1909, p.37).

Having failed to find the passage in Galton's works I searched the internet again, and was rewarded by finding a reference to a use of the term 'genophilia' by C. P. Blacker, a mid-20th century British eugenic and medical writer, in his book 'Eugenics: Galton and After' (Gerald Duckworth & Co., London, 1952). To confirm this I tracked down a library copy. The Index has references to 'genophilia' on pages 284 and 289. I find that the passage quoted in the Wiktionary entry is on page 289 of Blacker's book. In context it is clearly expressing Blacker's own views, and is not a quotation from Galton.

Blacker himself does not claim to have invented the term 'genophilia'. On page 284 he refers to 'genophilic instincts' and in a footnote says: 'The word "genophilia" is used by Dr. A. Spencer Patterson to denote the sentiments conveyed by the term philoprogenitiveness plus something more concrete in the shape of fondness of and delight in children'.

I do not know anything about Patterson and do not intend to pursue the origin of the term any further. I could not find Patterson's name in the online British Library Catalogue. It should be noted that the original meaning of the term, as used by Blacker and apparently also Patterson, is completely different from that used by the far-rightists.

I suggest that the contributor (Widsith?) should amend the Wiktionary entry. He could simply reattribute the 'Galton' quotation to Blacker, or could substitute the footnote from page 284 of Blacker's book. It might also be worth saying that the origin of the word has sometimes been incorrectly attributed to Galton.

RFV discussion: May 2018
"Love of one's own relations, tribe, kind or race." I just removed the 2 citations because one was a dead Web link and the other a mention (not a use). Google Books search suggests it might have a different meaning from the one that we give; and the one that we give may be limited to racist/nationalist Internet communities (a fact we should note if true). The talk page suggests there are/were further citations &mdash; but these cannot be found in the entry nor on a citations page. Equinox ◑ 20:03, 17 May 2018 (UTC)


 * I have added two cites, and am still looking for a third. Meanwhile, I also added a cite to the citations page that represents a different meaning. Kiwima (talk) 21:00, 17 May 2018 (UTC)


 * Both definitions are now cited. In addition, the citations page has two cites for another meaning, that seems to be a strong interest in genetics. Kiwima (talk) 21:36, 17 May 2018 (UTC)

RFV-passed Kiwima (talk) 00:33, 25 May 2018 (UTC)