Richard Weikart

Richard Weikart is Professor of History at California State University, Stanislaus. He completed his Ph.D. in modern European history at the University of Iowa in 1994, receiving the biennial prize of the Forum for History of Human Sciences for the best dissertation in that field. His revised dissertation, Socialist Darwinism: Evolution in German Socialist Thought from Marx to Bernstein, was published in 1999.

His book, From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany, documents the influence of naturalistic evolution on ethical thought, euthanasia, militarism, racism, and ultimately Hitler's ideology. It was published with Palgrave Macmillan in 2004. For more information on this book, visit darwintohitler.com.

His "From Darwin to Hitler" lecture delivered at the University of California San Diego is available here.

Dr. Weikart has also written Hitler's Ethic: The Nazi Pursuit of Evolutionary Progress (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) which helps explain the mystery of Hitler’s pernicious ideology by demonstrating that Hitler’s immorality flowed from a coherent ethic, inspired by an evolutionary utopian project of biologically improving the human race.

In addition to articles in scholarly journals, he recently published two books: The Death of Humanity: And the Case for Life (2016), which contains chapters on materialism, Darwinism, and biological determinism, among other issues. His most recent book, Hitler’s Religion (2016), shows that Hitler was a pantheist who deified nature and based his morality on the laws of nature, especially the Darwinian struggle for existence.

Richard Weikart's Vitae can be accessed here.

Archives

Richard Weikart on Darwinian Racism, Eugenics, and Slavery

_{Richard Weikart
September 23, 2020}

The evil of racism was nothing new when Darwin and his evolutionary theory came on the scene, but according to Weikart, racist thinking, increased “by orders of magnitude” under the influence of Darwinism and evolutionary thinking, and became mainstream science.

Richard Weikart on How Darwinism Fueled Scientific Racism

_{Richard Weikart
September 21, 2020}

On this episode of ID the Future, historian and Cal State Stanislaus emeritus professor Richard Weikart speaks with host Michael Keas about the dark history of “scientific” racism.

“Morality Pills”: Ethicist Calls for Drugs to Solve COVID Non-Compliance

_{Richard Weikart
August 14, 2020}

Whatever one thinks about government mandates relating to the coronavirus, Parker Crutchfield’s “solution” is worse than the problem.

Darwinism, Jews, and White Nationalists

_{Richard Weikart
March 6, 2020}

A right-wing Polish member of parliament, Janusz Korwin-Mikke, recently made waves with an astonishing claim.

Weikart on Racism, Darwinism and Christianity

_{Richard Weikart
September 23, 2019}

On this episode of ID the Future, Cal State history professor Richard Weikart, author of The Death of Humanity and the Case for Life, talks racism past and present, in both Christian and “scientific” secular history.

Richard Weikart on Michael Ruse’s “Compromise” with Christianity

_{Richard Weikart
September 18, 2019}

On this episode of ID the Future, From Darwin to Hitler author and historian Richard Weikart returns to his conversation with Mike Keas about a recent book on Darwinism, Christianity, and war by Michael Ruse. Ruse aims at a surprising conclusion in this book.

Richard Weikart on Michael Ruse and the Darwinian Religion

_{Richard Weikart
September 16, 2019}

On this episode of ID the Future, From Darwin to Hitler author and historian Richard Weikart speaks with Mike Keas about a recent book on Darwinism, Christianity, and war by Michael Ruse. Weikart says that in the course of the book Ruse appears to shift from warning others about treating Darwinism as a secular religion to himself embracing it as such.

Why Michael Shermer’s “Case for Scientific Humanism” Fails

_{Richard Weikart
January 4, 2019}

Shermer tries to rewrite history by insisting that science is built on atheistic assumptions.

Darwinian Theory and Evolutionary Psychology — A Troubling Legacy

_{Richard Weikart
July 12, 2018}

Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker asserts that infanticide has biological roots. He claims that ancient humans were picky about which babies they would raise to maturity.

Evolutionary Psychology Grapples with Racism and Anti-Semitism

_{Richard Weikart
July 11, 2018}

Kevin MacDonald is trying to resurrect this troubling legacy of Darwinian theory.

Why Social Science Does Not Need Evolutionary Theory

_{Richard Weikart
June 19, 2018}

The example that Professor Cristine Legare proffers is schoolyard bullying.

David Barash’s Shocking Suggestion

_{Richard Weikart
March 9, 2018}

Continuity with our species does not provide any protection at all. This is because the evolutionary process cannot confer any value on humans — or any other species.

On the History of Darwinism, Scientific Racism, and Hitler, Is Steven Pinker Objective?

_{Richard Weikart
February 26, 2018}

Pinker is right that we should formulate our ideas based on evidence, not bias and preconceptions.

Is Science Objective? Steven Pinker’s Counterattack Against the “War on Science”

_{Richard Weikart
February 24, 2018}

Unfortunately, Pinker’s overweening faith in science as a reliable path to the truth has its own problems.

Frankenstein 200 Years Later: Have We Heeded the Warning?

_{Richard Weikart
January 30, 2018}

Shelley’s cautionary tale of a scientific experiment run amok has profound implications for today’s bioethics debates.

How Darwinian Evolution Informed Hitler’s Ethics

_{Richard Weikart
November 8, 2017}

On this episode of ID The Future, Tod Butterfield talks with historian Dr. Richard Weikart about his new book Hitler’s Religion: The Twisted Beliefs that Drove the Third Reich. In this episode, Dr. Weikart explains how Darwinian evolution informed Hitler’s ethics.

Was Hitler a Creationist? Hitler Historian Says No.

_{Richard Weikart
November 6, 2017}

On this episode of ID The Future, Tod Butterfield talks with historian Dr. Richard Weikart about his new book Hitler’s Religion: The Twisted Beliefs that Drove the Third Reich. Here Dr. Weikart explores the claim that Hitler was a creationist and shows why it misses the mark.

Richard Weikart on Hitler’s Religion: Complex and Contradictory

_{Richard Weikart
November 1, 2017}

On this episode of ID The Future, Tod Butterfield talks with CSC Senior Fellow Dr. Richard Weikart about his recently published book Hitler’s Religion: The Twisted Beliefs that Drove the Third Reich. In particular, Weikart explores Hitler’s pantheism and his antipathy toward Christianity.

Richard Weikart: The Death of Humanity, pt. 3

_{Richard Weikart
April 13, 2016}

On this episode of ID the Future, hear part 3 of author and historian Dr. Richard Weikart’s discussion of his latest book, The Death of Humanity. Dr. Weikart examines the philosophical concept of NOMA (non-overlapping magisteria), and how morality fits into the Darwinian process.

Richard Weikart: The Death of Humanity, pt. 2

_{Richard Weikart
April 11, 2016}

On this episode of ID the Future, author and historian Dr. Richard Weikart continues to discusses his latest book, The Death of Humanity. Dr. Weikart gives more insight into the trends and tensions that have developed in Western thought out of the Darwinian view of life.