Richard Weikart

Dec 16, 2024 | evolutionnews.org | Richard Weikart

I have been reviewing a new collection from Cambridge University Press, Darwin Mythology: Debunking Myths, Correcting Falsehoods. (See my earlier posts here and here.) James G. Lennox opens his essay about Darwin’s views on teleology with Friedrich Engels’s statement in a letter to Karl Marx. Engels exulted that Darwin had demolished teleology. This is a view that is commonplace among many Darwinian biologists, as well as historians.

Dec 12, 2024 | evolutionnews.org | Richard Weikart

In the new book I’m reviewing here, Darwin Mythology: Debunking Myths, Correcting Falsehoods, the actual title of Michael Ruse’s chapter is “Myth 4: That Darwin Always Rejected the Argument from Design in Nature and Developed His Own Theory to Replace It.” (See my first post in this review series here.) I have never heard anyone claim that Darwin always rejected the argument from design, because before he came to believe in evolution in the late 1830s, he found William Paley’s natural...

Dec 11, 2024 | evolutionnews.org | Richard Weikart

In a new book published by Cambridge University Press, Darwin Mythology: Debunking Myths, Correcting Falsehoods, an array of prominent Darwin scholars attempt to dismantle 24 myths about Darwin and his theory. Many of these essays are excellent examples of historians setting the record straight. However, while myth-busting is a venerable pursuit for historians, caution must be exercised, especially when dealing with ideologically loaded subjects.

Oct 31, 2024 | idthefuture.com | Richard Weikart

Episode 1974 With Jerry Newcombe Guest(s) Richard Weikart Duration 00:17:08 Download Audio File (23.5 mb) Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Flipboard Print https://chrt.fm/track/G42895/idthefuture.com/podcast-player/42624/1974.mp3 Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 00:17:08 | The urge to help people kill themselves has intensified in recent decades, even to the point of pushing the reluctant towards death. How did we reach this place? On this ID The Future, historian and author Dr....

Sep 9, 2024 | evolutionnews.org | Richard Weikart

In 2016, after my book The Death of Humanity: And the Case for Life appeared, I had a radio debate with Peter Singer, one of the thinkers I discussed in the book. The question for our debate was: “Is human life intrinsically valuable?” Singer argued that no, human life is not intrinsically valuable. When the radio host asked Singer what would make a human more valuable than some other being, Singer responded that certain capacities that humans have give them value.