  We introduce an interesting and rather large class of monoid homomorphisms,
on arbitrary integral domain $R$, that we call Dumas valuations. Then we
formulate a conjecture addressing the question asking when a polynomial $f\in
R[X]$ cannot be written as a product $f=gh$ for some nonconstant polynomials
$g,h\in R[X]$. The statement of the conjecture presents a significant
generalization of the classical Eisenstein-Dumas irreducibility criterion. In
particular our approach can be very useful while studying the irreducibility
problem for multivariate polynomials over any integral domain and polynomials
over orders in algebraic number fields. We provide a strong evidence that our
conjecture should be true.
