Table of Contents
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
Syllabification: bi·o·log·i·cal re·duc·tion·ism
Audio Pronunciation
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
- “Reductionism of any type tends to suggest that particular units of analysis or variables are more relevant than others. Suppose we ask what caused the American Revolution. Was it a shared commitment to the value of individual liberty? The economic plight of the colonies in relation to Britain? The megalomania of the founders? As soon as we inquire about the single cause, we run the risk of reductionism. If we were to regard shared values as the cause of the American Revolution, our unit of analysis would be the individual colonist. An economist, though, might choose the 13 colonies as units of analysis and examine the economic organizations and conditions of each. A psychologist might choose individual leaders as the units of analysis for purposes of examining their personalities” (Babbie 2011:109).
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 October 15, 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 October 15, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/biological-reductionism/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“biological reductionism.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/biological-reductionism/>.