ГЕНЕТИЧЕСКИЙ МЕТОД

Genetic Method

A method of investigation based on analysing the development of phenomena; came into existence when the idea of development took precedence in science (17th century), viz., differential calculus in mathematics, Lyell's theory in geology, the Kant-Laplace hypothesis in cosmogony, the theory of evolution in biology, etc. The Genetic Method was also adopted in philosophy, gradually ousting the then prevalent analytic method, and became one of the methods of contemporary mathematics and logic.

According to the Genetic Method we must determine (1) the initial conditions of development, (2) the main stages of development, and (3) the basic tendency or line of development. The chief purpose is to establish the connections between phenomena in time and to examine the transitions from lower to higher forms. The Genetic Method is superior to empirical analysis, because it proceeds parallel to actual development, the latter serving as the criterion of the validity of emergent ideas.

However, despite its advantages, the Genetic Method does not get to the bottom of all the complexities of the development process. If used alone, unsupported by other methods, it leads into error, distorts and simplifies the facts, and reduces itself to primitive evolutionism. In modern science the Genetic Method has established itself as an element of the dialectical method.