Benjamin Wiker

Senior Fellow, Center for Science and Culture

Benjamin Wiker holds a PhD in Theological Ethics from Vanderbilt University. A Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, he has taught at Marquette University, St. Mary's University (MN), and Thomas Aquinas College (CA), and Franciscan University of Steubenville.

He is the author of 10 Books That Screwed Up the World: And 5 Others That Didn't Help (2008) and co-author of Answering the New Atheism: Dismantling Dawkins' Case Against God (2008).

Dr. Wiker writes regularly for a variety of journals.

He is the co-author with Jonathan Witt of A Meaningful World: How the Arts and Sciences Reveal the Genius of Nature (2006). He has also published Moral Darwinism: How We Became Hedonists (InterVarsity Press, 2002), The Mystery of the Periodic Table (Bethlehem Books, 2003), and Architects of the Culture of Death (Ignatius, 2004).

He lives with his wife and seven children in Ohio.

Archives

10 Books Every Conservative Must Read

Benjamin Wiker
August 23, 2010
On this episode of ID the Future, Jay Richards interviews Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Benjamin Wiker on his latest book, 10 Books Every Conservative Must Read: Plus Four Not to Miss and One Impostor. Listen in as they examine the role of materialism in politics, particularly in C. S. Lewis’s prophetic book, The Abolition of Man, and Wiker explains how moral argument has been replaced by technological manipulation of human nature.

Legislating a Second Bill of Rights

Benjamin Wiker
January 14, 2010
If you think the worry about too much power in the federal government is new, then you need to take a quick trip back in history to the original debates surrounding the ratification of the Constitution between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.

Evolution is Not the Problem. Darwinism is the Problem.

Benjamin Wiker
December 9, 2009
As I have argued at length in my Darwin Myth, evolution and Darwinism are not the same thing. Darwin’s version of evolution is properly called “Darwinism.” Darwinism was largely defined by the skeptical Enlightenment secularism of the 18th and 19th centuries. Evolution is the thing that happened, the marvelous and still largely mysterious complex of evidence that gives every indication that nature is Read More ›

Set My People Free

Benjamin Wiker
December 3, 2009
In The Origins of Totalitarianism Hannah Arendt attempted to analyze how totalitarian regimes gain such pervasive power over every aspect of the lives of individuals. The creation of omnipresent fear, the use of terror, and the ascription of quasi-divine salvific powers to the leaders all play a part. But in a way, all of these depend on one strategic goal: the destruction Read More ›

Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Darwin’s Origin of Species

Benjamin Wiker
November 24, 2009
November 24, 2009, marked the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species. What should we say about this most influential of books? First of all, that it should be read, and not just celebrated. Wherever one stands in regard to Darwin or Darwinism, the Origin of Species is a classic text in the history of science, elegantly written and Read More ›

What Were Darwin’s Religious Views?

Benjamin Wiker
May 1, 2009
Figuring out what Charles Darwin’s religious views actually were is immensely difficult, and this for several reasons. First, they appear to have changed; second, he was loathe to offend religious people; third, he was not above appearing to be religious so that he could advance his theory of evolution; and fourth, he was disingenuous. The best place to begin is Read More ›

Charles Darwin: A Short Biography

Benjamin Wiker
May 1, 2009
Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, the very day that, half-way across the world in a log shack in Kentucky, Nancy Lincoln would give birth to Abraham, a boy with a likewise hidden destiny. Charles was preceded by Marianne, Caroline, Susan, and his best boyhood friend and only brother, Erasmus, and then Emily came along afterward. Familial Influences ...

Darwin’s Views on Morality

Benjamin Wiker
May 1, 2009
There is no reason for guesswork on Darwin’s views of morality. He set them out all too clearly in his Descent of Man, the book in which he applied his theory of evolution to human beings.

Happy Birthday, Charles Darwin

Darwin the Abolitionist and Author of the Descent of Man
Benjamin Wiker
February 12, 2009
On February 12, 1809, both Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born, a rather interesting coincidence. Even more interesting, both were adamant abolitionists, Charles perhaps more so than Abe.

Darwin Nietzsche, and Hitler: Evolution of the Übermensch

Benjamin Wiker
May 13, 2008
Judging by the number of posts, my recent column “Darwin and Hitler … in their Own Words” set the fur a-flying. Many folks just don’t like it when you trace a revered scientific icon to an icon of evil. Small wonder. Too bad it’s true. Not to rub too much salt in the wound, but Darwinism is responsible for a Read More ›

10 Books That Screwed Up the World: Part 2

Benjamin Wiker
May 12, 2008
On this episode of ID the Future, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Benjamin Wiker continues the discussion begun in the last podcast. Continuing through his survey of his new book, 10 Books That Screwed Up the World: And 5 Others That Didn’t Help, Dr. Wiker sets his sights on Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man and its clear connections to the ideologies of Friedrich Nietzsche, Adolf Hitler, and Margaret Sanger. Spotlighting Darwin’s own words in context, Wiker demonstrates how the reprehensible philosophies of these three figures were the direct descendants of Darwin’s own thoughts.

10 Books That Screwed up the World: Part 1 

Benjamin Wiker
May 7, 2008
On this episode of ID the Future, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Dr. Benjamin Wiker discusses his new book, 10 Books That Screwed Up the World: And 5 Others That Didn’t Help. In this first of a two-part series, Wiker starts his skim through the book’s list of the ten philosophical works most responsible for cultural decay. Those on the docket today are Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the two philosophers, according to Wiker, whose irresponsible inversions of morality have served as the foundation for our culture’s increasingly animalistic notions of human identity, purpose, and relationship.

Darwin and Hitler: In Their Own Words

The connection is too obvious to deny.
Benjamin Wiker
May 5, 2008
As David Berlinski recently noted, “the thesis that there is a connection between Darwin and Hitler is widely considered a profanation.” But striking an indignant pose — feathers in full ruffle — is not an answer to such a serious charge, especially when the words of both Darwin and Hitler speak otherwise. Those defending Darwin cannot have read his Descent of Read More ›