ETERONOMY. – In ethics (ἐτεροσ = other; νόμος = law), it stands in opposition to autonomy (v.), and denotes the character of any moral system that locates the foundation and norm of ethical law outside the human person.
Contrary to every moral heteronomy was Kant, for whom the sole source of obligation is the a priori form of morality and duty (the categorical imperative), inherent in practical reason and absolutely independent of any extrinsic motive or determination. Christian morality, by positing a transcendent value as the ultimate foundation of morality, rejects absolute autonomism; yet it does not thereby lapse into a mere extrinsic heteronomy, since it posits the moral law as determined and conditioned by the moral exigencies immanent to human nature, or at least—when dealing with the supernatural order—in accord and harmony with its intrinsic possibilities of perfection and elevation. A more radical and unacceptable heteronomy is that implicit in every system which denies the intrinsic distinction between good and evil, seeking instead its norm and foundation either in the free divine will (Pufendorf) or even in a contingent fact, such as the social contract (moral positivism, Hobbes); V. ETICA.