heteronomy

American  

[het-uh-ron-uh-mee] / ˌhɛt əˈrɒn ə mi /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of heteronomy

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

heteronomy

One of its themes contrasts autonomy and heteronomy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026

From it he derives his all-important distinction between religious "heteronomy," which is imposed upon the individual, and religious "autonomy," in which the individual continually seeks and hopes to find.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From Hegel's Philosophy of Mind by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

It shows itself, nevertheless, in their systems, as it always produces heteronomy of practical reason; and from this can never be derived a moral law giving universal commands.

From The Critique of Practical Reason by Thomas Kingsmill Abbott

In contrast with the Legislative, the Executive power expresses the heteronomy of the nation in contrast with its autonomy.

From Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte by Karl Marx