In the book, "From Darwin to Hitler", Richard Weickart explains the revolutionary influence of Darwinism on ethics. He shows that many leading Darwinian biologists and social thinkers in Germany believed that Darwinism overturned traditiona ...
In the book, "From Darwin to Hitler", Richard Weickart explains the revolutionary influence of Darwinism on ethics. He shows that many leading Darwinian biologists and social thinkers in Germany believed that Darwinism overturned traditional Judeo-Christian and Enlightenment ethics, particularly the view that human life was sacred. Many of these thinkers supported moral relativism, but simultaneously elevated evolutionary "fitness" (especially intelligence and health) to the highest arbiter of morality. Darwinism was instrumental not only in the rise of eugenics, but also in euthanasia, infanticide, abortion, and racial annihilation. This was especially important in Germany because Hitler based his view of morality on Darwinian principles, not nihilism.
Richard Weickart is a professor of history at California State University, Stanislaus. He recently completed a documentary project, "Exploring Reform and Revival in Germany," which is available on YouTube. He has published six books, including, most recently, The Death of Humanity: The Case of Life and Hitler's Religion: The Twisted Beliefs That Driven the Third Reich. His previous books include From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany and Hitler's Ethics: The Nazi Pursuit of Evolutionary Progress, both published by scholarly publisher Palgrave Macmillan. In addition to his books, he has published many articles, reviews and reviews in scientific journals.
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