determinism definition | Open Education Sociology Dictionary

Bell, Kenton

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determinism

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Definition of Determinism

(noun) A theory that an individual’s actions and life course is determined by external forces.

Example of Determinism

In a stratified society, an individual will stay in the class in which they were born.

Determinism Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: de·ter·min·ism

Audio Pronunciation

– American English

– British English

Phonetic Spelling

American English – /di-tUHR-muh-niz-uhm/
British English – /di-tUHR-mi-ni-zuhm/

International Phonetic Alphabet

American English – /dɪˈtɜrməˌnɪzəm/
British English – /dɪˈtəːmɪnɪz(ə)m/

Usage Notes

Plural: determinisms
Determinism is defined here as a broad term that covers a continuum of ideas such as biological determinism, economic determinism, and social determinism.
Not to be confused with reductionism.
A (noun) determinist uses (adjective) deterministic logic to (adverb) deterministically or (adverb) determinately explain complex social phenomena.

Additional Information

Word origin of “determinism” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Atmanspacher, Harald, and Robert Bishop, eds. 2002. Between Chance and Choice: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Determinism. Charlottesville, VA: Imprint Academic.
Campbell, Joseph Keim, Michael O’Rourke, and David Shier, eds. 2004. Freedom and Determinism. Cambridge: MIT.
Honderich, Ted. 2002. How Free Are You? The Determinism Problem. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wegner, Daniel M. 2002. The Illusion of Conscious Will. Cambridge: MIT.

Related Terms

Works Consulted

Bilton, Tony, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, David Skinner, Michelle Stanworth, and Andrew Webster. 1996. Introductory Sociology. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan.

Carrabine, Eamonn, Pam Cox, Maggy Lee, Ken Plummer, and Nigel South. 2009. Criminology: A Sociological Introduction. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

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

O’Leary, Zina. 2007. The Social Science Jargon Buster: The Key Terms You Need to Know. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

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.

Thorpe, Christopher, Chris Yuill, Mitchell Hobbs, Sarah Tomley, and Marcus Weeks. 2015. The Sociology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained. London: Dorling Kindersley.

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

Cite the Definition of Determinism

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “determinism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 18, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/determinism/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

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

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

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “determinism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 18, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/determinism/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“determinism.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/determinism/>.