Definition of "heteronomy" [het•er•on•o•my]

• The political subjection of a community to the rule of another power or to an external law. (noun)
• The state of being beholden to external influences. (noun)
• The condition of being heteronomous (noun)

Wiktionary.org : Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

• "In philosophy, the term (with its antithesis "heteronomy") was applied by"
• "In the Groundwork Kant contrasts an ethics of autonomy, in which the will (Wille, or practical reason itself) is the basis of its own law, from the ethics of heteronomy, in which something independent of the will such as happiness is the basis of moral law (4: 440-41)."
• "Autonomy and heteronomy are a matter of dynamic degree."