Richard Weikart, From Darwin to Hitler, Descent of Man, Women, Good Schools, Richard Dawkins, Darwin and Evolution

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CONTENTS:

"...every group that wishes to see conflicting interests resolved reasonably, or is wise about the conditions under which it enjoys its own freedom, must be profoundly concerned with the state of freedom of speech and assembly, freedom of inquiry and teaching, freedom of press and other forms of communication, freedom of cultural opportunity and development. For in large measure intelligent moral choice depends upon them."
--Sidney Hook (1902-1988), disciple of John Dewey, and champion of pragmatism and democracy

From Darwin to Hitler
Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany

An interesting new book by Richard Weikart
(New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, 312 pages (includes extensive notes))

This book is hard to find, and expensive ($50+). I might not have encountered it at all, were it not for an email sent by the author, or probably his publisher--for which I am grateful. I checked 80 nearby libraries, public and university, before buying it from Amazon. How any university could fail to procure this book defies imagination. ...Or does it? Students should request their libraries buy this book. It is an important contribution to the discussion.

In his Introduction, Mr. Weikart writes: "...I discovered that many German eugenicists wrote essays and passages in their books on how to apply Darwinism to ethics. I had not initially intended eugenics to play an important part in this study, but I could not avoid it..."

He continues, "...the more I read by and about Hitler, the more I became convinced that there were significant historical connections between Darwinism and Hitler's ideology. ...No matter how crooked the road was from Darwin to Hitler, clearly Darwinism and eugenics smoothed the path for Nazi ideology, especially for the Nazi stress on expansion, war, racial struggle, and racial extermination."

Later in his Introduction, Mr. Weikart writes: "In order to rescue Darwinian science from the taint of Nazism, however, some historians assert that Hitler's views were pseudo-scientific or eccentric, or they refer to his views of Darwinism as crude or vulgar." Mr. Weikart quotes Brigitte Hamann on this: "Almost all of the theories Hitler preferred have in common that they were not in agreement with academic science but were the products of idiosyncratic thought processes of private scholars who were full of contempt for established scientists, who hardly ever accept them either, and for good reason."

Mr. Weikart takes issue with that argument: "On the contrary, however, many recent studies about Nazi science, especially those relating to biology, medical science, and eugenics, demonstrate that many mainstream scientists, professors, and physicians--including those identifying with the political Left--upheld views about Darwinism and eugenics quite similar to Hitler's."

"In philosophical terms," Weikart writes, "Darwinism was a necessary, but not a sufficient, cause for Nazi ideology. But however logical or illogical the connections are between Darwinism and Nazism, historically the connections are there and they cannot be wished away."

Why is it, then, only in Germany did Darwinian devaluing of human life result in Holocaust? "Nowhere did [Darwinian devaluation of human life] reach the catastrophic level of Germany...since only in Germany did a dictator rule with the power to pursue his radical agenda under the cover of war."

Weikart then goes on to demonstrate that Hitler's philosophy was more shaped by Darwinism than by naturalism, a view that flies in the face of much popular thinking. Mr. Weikart writes: "I would assert that without Darwinism, materialism would still have increased during the late nineteenth century, but it would have been far less persuasive and thus would have gained fewer adherents than it actually did."

The point of this short article is not to provide lengthy quotes from Mr. Weikart's book (though that might seem the case), nor is even intended to be a review of the work (I will leave that to others). I want only to draw attention to the book, and to highly recommend it; especially Chapter Six, which is entitled: "The Science of Racial Inequality." In it Mr. Weikart writes: "While racism might have intensified in the late nineteenth century as a justification for European imperialism with our without Darwinism, it is clear that Darwinism played a key role in the rhetoric of racism."

Other especially good chapters include: "The Specter of Inferiority," "Controlling Reproduction," and "Racial Struggle and Extermination." ...All pointing to a connection between Darwinism and Nazi Germany; sometimes not a direct connection, but a connection nonetheless.

Weikart concludes: "Darwinism by itself did not produce the Holocaust, but without Darwinism, especially in its social Darwinist and eugenics permutations, neither Hitler nor his Nazi followers would have had the necessary scientific underpinnings to convince themselves and their collaborators that one of the world's greatest atrocities was really morally praiseworthy. Darwinism--or at least some naturalistic interpretations of Darwinism--succeeded in turning morality on its head."

(In connection with Darwin's racism, read my article (Darwin, the Munificent Zookeeper) on this site.)

About Dr. Richard Weikart

Meet Richard Weikart

Ph. D., History, University of Iowa

Richard Weikart is associate professor in the department of history at California State University, Stanislaus. Before joining the faculty there he was a visiting assistant professor at the University of Iowa. He has been a Fulbright and Gordon Prange fellow, and has written for various periodicals, including the Journal of the History of Ideas, Books and Culture: A Christian Review, and Fides et Historia. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, and his M.A. and B.A. from Texas Christian University.

Dr. Weikart also has an On Line Lecture on the topic: "From Darwin to Hitler: Does Darwinism Devalue Human Life?" (2004)

Would you like to see related letters and my comments?

This site features a frank presentation of issues facing parents, taxpayers and schools in reforming schools in the twenty-first century. Good Schools promotes good schools, and explains what is necessary to achieve good schools. We are convinced that good schools can be obtained only with sound curriculum, which does not include the teaching of Darwin's theory of origin, or Darwin's theory of evolution. We believe that local school boards need to be empowered, and the influence of teachers' unions ought to be limited to labor-related issues. Teachers' unions should have no say in curriculum.

We are convinced that the teachings of Darwin, particularly Darwin's teachings on evolution, and Darwin's theories on origins, ought not be taught as fact. Darwin and Darwin's theories are not generally accepted by contemporary physicists and cosmologists, and, therefore, Darwin and Darwin's theories ought not be accepted whole-cloth by our schools of education, and ought not be presented as fact in public schools.

Because Richard Dawkins has set himself up as the number one defender of Darwin and Darwin's theory of evolution, we will go to some length explaining Dawkins' Darwin defenses, and we will do our best to explode Dawkins' Darwin defenses.

We seek to show from Darwin's own hand that Darwin, and Darwin's theory of evolution, are racist at the core. Darwin was a racist, Darwin's theory of evolution is racist, and Darwin's theory of origins is racist.

We further seek to show that Darwin's theory of evolution is not scientific. We show that racism, more than science, was behind Darwin and Darwin's theory of evolution, and Darwin's theory of origins.

Some of the terms commonly used on this site are: Darwin, Dawkins, schools, public schools, education, gun control, teachers, John Dewey, Littleton, racist, racism , school choice, African American, Sidney Hook, evolution, and Mike Carrier.

Bottom line--good schools require work. Good schools do not just happen. We need good schools, if we are to have a good nation.

BecauseRichard Dawkins has set himself up as the number one defender of Darwin and Darwin's theory of evolution, we will go to some length explaining Dawkins' Darwin defenses, and we will do our best to explode Dawkins' Darwin defenses.

Bottom line--good schools require work. Good schools do not just happen. We need good schools, if we are to have a good nation.