The doctrine that our genes determine who we are at every level of organization, or that both structure and function are inherited rather than acquired through learning. According to Richard C. Lewontin, there are three varieties: ‘genetic fixity’ (i.e., parental genes determine the characters of their children), ‘innate capacity’ (i.e., in an impoverished environment all people will have similar characters, but in an enriched one those with the ‘right’ innate capacity will do better), and ‘statistical variation’ (i.e., all individual differences can be separated into genetic and environmental determinants). Certainly, the impact of the Human Genome Project has led to a more amenable attitude toward genetic determinism than was the case even a few years ago.
See Behavioral genetics, Causal determinism (or causalism), Character, Determinism, Human Genome Project (HGP), Neural determinism, Neuromaturation, Predetermined epigenesis, Relativism (or cultural relativism)