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Darwin to Hitler | Richard Weikart

Episode
2
With
Michael Medved
Guest
Richard Weikart
Duration
00:22:10
Download
Audio File (20.3 mb)
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One question that tragically never goes away is that of evil and its roots. Adolf Hitler was not a lunatic, nor did he emerge onto the stage of history from nowhere. He had a background, an intellectual milieu, that historian Richard Weikart explores in his book From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany.

A Fearless Mind

Dr. Weikart joins us today to talk about Hitler’s intellectual background. Richard is a professor of modern European history at California State University, Stanislaus, and a Senior Fellow with Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture.

Video

Show Notes

  • 02:20 | What led to interest in intellectual history of Hitler
  • 03:55 | Did Darwin speak of “evolutionary ethics”?
  • 05:30 | Mental and moral progress of the species
  • 06:40 | Did Darwin believe the races evolved separately?
  • 08:35 | What is morality if merely the result of survival?
  • 09:50 | The German milieu between Darwin and Hitler
  • 10:30 | Haeckel’s view of the races as species
  • 12:38 | The story of Ota Benga
  • 14:20 | How was Hitler influenced by the teaching of evolution?
  • 16:05 | Francis Galton and the Nazi obsession with eugenics
  • 18:10 | How does the eugenics movement translate into Nazism?

More Resources

Discovery Institute