Table of Contents
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
Syllabification: de·ter·min·ism
Audio Pronunciation
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.
Related Video
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 September 14, 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 September 14, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/determinism/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“determinism.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 14 Sep. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/determinism/>.