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biological reductionism

Definition of Biological Reductionism

(noun) A theory stating all social phenomena have a biological explanation.

Example of Biological Reductionism

  • In standardized tests completed by people or groups of different ethnic backgrounds, differences in results occur because of biological differences.

Biological Reductionism Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: bi·o·log·i·cal re·duc·tion·ism

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /bie-uh-lAHj-i-kuhl ri-dUHk-shuh-niz-uhm/
  • British English – /bie-uh-lOj-i-kuhl ri-dUHk-shuh-ni-zuhm/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ˌbaɪəˈlɑʤɪkəl rəˈdʌkʃənɪz(ə)m/
  • British English – /ˌbaɪəʊˈlɒʤɪkəl rɪˈdʌkʃənɪz(ə)m/

Usage Notes

  • Plural: biological reductionisms
  • Not to be confused with biological determinism.
  • A type of reductionism.
  • Also called biologism.
  • A (noun) biological reductionist views society (adverb) biological reductionally from a (adjective) biological reductionistic perspective.

Related Quotation

Additional Information

Related Terms


Works Consulted

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).

Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Cite the Definition of Biological Reductionism

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “biological reductionism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 29, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/biological-reductionism/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

biological reductionism. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/biological-reductionism/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “biological reductionism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 29, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/biological-reductionism/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“biological reductionism.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/biological-reductionism/>.