heteronomy

[het-uh-ron-uh-mee]

noun

1. the condition of being under the domination of an outside authority, either human or divine.

Word History and Origins

Origin of heteronomy¹

First recorded in 1815–25; hetero- + -nomy

Example Sentences

“Heteronomy” is therefore applied by Kant to all other ethical systems, inasmuch as they place the individual in subjection to external laws of conduct.

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If it is true that a condition of "heteronomy" always precedes that of "autonomy," then the outer sanction is the indispensable condition of the evolution of moral feelings.

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The characteristic of Morality thus described is its essential inwardness, and the sovereignty of the conscience over all heteronomy.

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Yet its purport seems ultimately to be that the objective order is misconceived when it is regarded as an external or quasi-physical order: as a law written up and sanctioned with an external authority—as, in Kant's words, a heteronomy.

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It is called autonomy of Will and is contrasted with heteronomy.

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