From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics and Racism in Germany

by Richard Weikart

In this work, Richard Weikart explains the revolutionary impact Darwinism had on ethics and morality. He demonstrates that many leading Darwinian biologists and social thinkers in Germany believed that Darwinism overturned traditional Judeo-Christian and Enlightenment ethics, especially the view that human life is sacred. Many of these thinkers supported moral relativism, yet simultaneously exalted evolutionary 'fitness' (especially intelligence and health) to the highest arbiter of morality. Darwinism played a key role in the rise not only of eugenics, but also euthanasia, infanticide, abortion and racial extermination. This was especially important in Germany, since Hitler built his view of ethics on Darwinian principles, not on nihilism.

Genres: History, Philosophy, Science, Eugenics, Evolution, Nonfiction, Race

323 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2004

About the author

Dr. Weikart is Professor of History at California State University, Stanislaus, and Fellow at the Center for Science and Culture of Discovery Institute, Seattle.

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, and racism—and ultimately Hitler's ideology.

With an extensive background in modern German and modern European intellectual history, he has published articles in journals such as Isis, Journal of the History of Ideas, German Studies Review, History of European Ideas, European Legacy, and Fides et Historia. One such article received the Selma V. Forkosch Prize for the best article in 1993 in the Journal of the History of Ideas.

Articles by Richard Weikart

Reviews

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a superb work of scholarship. This book carefully traces, without much editorial commentary, the spectacular moral collapse across Western culture generated by Darwinism. Of course, those collapsing did not see themselves that way, as collapsing. They were actually very pleased with themselves.

[Robert Pajer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Weikart’s “From Darwin to Hitler” is a comprehensive look at how German ethics gradually evolved socially, economically, and politically from a Judeo-Christian worldview into a philosophical materialism worldview. Weikart did extensive historical research demonstrating how Darwinism altered conceptions of human nature and the value of human life that ultimately contributed to a eugenics ideology and scientific racism that became prominent in Germany, the United States, and Europe during the late 19th Century and into the early 20th Century.
He doesn’t blame Darwinism for the Holocaust, but acknowledges it is one of the contributing factors. Weikart’s conclusion at the end of the book states: “Darwinism by itself did not produce the Holocaust, but without Darwinism, especially its social Darwinist and eugenics permutations, neither Hitler nor his Nazi followers would have had the necessary scientific underpinnings to convince themselves and their collaborators that one of the world’s greatest atrocities was really morally praiseworthy. Darwinism—or at least some naturalistic interpretations of Darwinism—succeeded in turning morality on its head.”
While there will be many critics of Weikart’s work one cannot but be impressed with his extensive historical research and his care in revealing the influence of Darwinism on Hitler. I found the book insightful and sobering. Weikart acquainted me with how some in the intellectual community of Germany came to devalue life based on their interpretation of Darwinism.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weikart argues that Darwinism isn't a sufficient but a necessary condition for the holocaust. Genetic variation means some are biologically inferior to others and therefore the inferior must go. Critics point out that Hitler never quoted Darwin. That may be true but Weikart documents that Hitler was conversant with a stream of darwinists that were promoting eugenics based on the right of the stronger. Even the respectable H. G. Wells said, "there is only one sane and logical thing to be done with a really inferior race, and that is to exterminate it" (185).

Weikart points out that none of this would've been possible without Darwinism replacing the Christian view of man as made in the image of God with an immortal soul. He says, "It is striking that the vast majority of those who did press for abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were fervent proponents of a naturalistic Darwinian worldview" (149). Dangerous ideas do have dangerous consequences.

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I do not believe that the atrocious war into which the Germans plunged Europe in August, 1914, and which has subsequently involved all lands and all peoples, would ever have been fought, or at least would have attained its actual gigantic proportions, had the Germans not been made mad by the theory of survival of the fittest." - William Roscoe Thayer in his 1918 address to the American Historical Association.


A book that talks about the influence of Darwin on Germany. In 1878 Darwin wrote a friend and told him that Germany was the most enthusiastic nation in embracing his theory. In the years leading to WWI books on ethics and the changes in ethics with the view of Darwinism were non-fiction best sellers in Germany. The idea of the survival of the fittest and that humans were just animals who should not be given any better treatment than animals changed the philosophical landscape in Germany. It influenced German thoughts on the advisability of WWI and ultimately led to the Holocaust.

A fascinating book though if feels as if it is written by an academic for academics. Lots of footnotes so you can check the author's info out. Not a lot of editorial commenting from the author. Overall he does a good job of letting the people he introduces to the reader tell them what they think about society and how Darwinism changes things.

[Winnie Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weikart flies in the face of "see no evil" and gives us page after page of research proving how Darwinism led to the atrocities of Nazi Germany. A scalding book.

[Faith Neece · Rating 4 out of 5]

When people think about the Holocaust, one of the biggest questions is, “How could something like this happen?” This book begins to explain how. Hitler’s ideas were not isolated. The growing movement of Social Darwinism, “racial hygiene,” and eugenics spread over time. This work excellently explains this process. It had profound implications for us to consider even today. This book is quite dense, but I’d recommend it to anyone interested in this subject. It has been very helpful for my preparation for my trip to Germany and Poland soon.

[Masha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book to read. I have learned a lot I did not previously know, and there are many references I am sure to look up. Without getting into my personal opinions on the subject, I do have a few comments.
Firstly, the author at times sound a little bit 'preachy', as if blaming the Theory of evolution for the change in people in the sense they were more inclined toward science than religion. I do not feel that is a good representation. The overall 'vibe' I get is that Darwin and the Theory of evolution are, at least in part, to blame for the horrors of the Holocaust. Do not blame the science. Blame those who interpret it. Those people who got the idea that a 'superior' race is superior simply for being European, blonde, or of their own culture, are people who did not use an actual scientific explanation for their claims. They twisted a scientific theory to suit their own bias. And that is the least scientific thing you can do. At the worst, all we can blame the Theory of evolution of is giving a way to promote their ideas, as false as they may be, to those who deemed others less worthy of them.
On a final note, I do find it amusing that a lot of those people who were clinging to the idea of a 'superior race', would realistically not fit into it, by their own standards.

[Shane Goodyear · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a very hard book to read for a couple of reasons. It is hard to read because of the subject and the writing style is not inducive to bed time reading. I have given it 4stars because of the informing nature of the argument and the honesty of confronting this issue.
the book argues that Hitler was influenced by social German Darwinists on the superiority of races and hence came the Holocaust.
a couple of thoughts:

1. the author shows that social Darwinism was prevalent in Germany and indeed Europe in the mid to late 19c and early 20 c.

2.he also shows how many well respected scientist, scholars and academics accepted you could use Darwin's view in society and help improve society and social structures.

3. Focuses on the formation of German Darwinist thinking, while engaging with some Anglo-American Darwinists in this work.

4. Shows how Darwin himself believed in the superiority of races, but not to the extent of his successors

[Rivka Levy · Rating 5 out of 5]

How's that for a provocative title? Yet sadly, the ample evidence amassed by the author charted a very plain course between the deification of Darwin's ideas of 'natural selection' and 'survival of the fittest' to the rush to implement them in the real world, that occurred from the beginning of the 20th century on.

Social Darwinism didn't just lead to the Third Reich, it has also lead to an endless swamp of cruelty and warmongering, all under the banner of 'survival of the fittest' - and we're still dealing with the fallout today.

An excellent, thoroughly researched book.

[Peter Kiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

The level of scholarship in this book blew me away! I was expecting something far different from the title, but this was truly a very academic book that coldly presented the progression from Darwin to eugenics to Hitler's specific brand of racism. I took off a star because this does not read easily, it is incredibly dry, but this book is an invaluable resource for seeing how our society has been shaped by the ideals of euginicists and racists who justified themselves through Darwinism.

[Kyle Dunham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chilling and sobering recounting of the influence Darwinism had on the philosophical and ethical underpinnings of the English- and German-speaking cultures of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, culminating in the atrocities of Hitler and the Nazi regime. This is an important and insightful work that should be more widely read.

[حسن الهلالي · Rating 2 out of 5]

قرأت الكتاب لكن و لسبباً ما لم أفهم العلاقة بين الداروينية و النازية صاحب الكتاب جمع كثير من الأفكار و الآراء مع بعضه لأيجاد علاقة سببية و ثيقة بين الأثنين و لكن ولسبباً ما عنده مشكلة في ترتيب الفكر و عرضها كٌنت أقرأ أول 50 ورقة و ظننت أنه المقدمة

[Alma · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب آموزنده است و مفصل به بحث درباره شکل‌گیری اصلاح نژادی و مسائل نژادی مبتنی بر نظریه داروین می‌پردازد. اما خواندن آن کار راحتی نیست و بیشتر باید به چشم مقاله دانشگاهی و درسی نگاه کرد. اگر به این موضوعات علاقه دارید قطعا برایتان مفید خواهد بود.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating book, but it reads like a textbook. I learned a lot from reading it (study for a paper that I was writing on eugenics), but it seemed a bit repetitive.

[Ahmed Osman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ggg

[Nathalie Elhabry · Rating 5 out of 5]

من اروع ما قرات عن الداروينية و تحسين النسل و تأثيرها علي الحروب العرقية و المجازر الفكرية

[Nemanja Milošević · Rating 5 out of 5]

Odlična knjiga

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The basic thesis is that Darwinism shaped the intellectual and scientific environment of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; while it did not directly cause the rise of Hitler, it definitely informed his understanding of race, biology and morality, and provided intellectual cover for his views. Without Darwinsm, it is unlikely that the Nazis would have risen to power.

[Mark Kloha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very in depth philosophical book that covers Darwinism, the devaluing of human life, and how this influenced the German WWII regime. The author makes the argument that Darwin himself, Darwinism philosophies, along with those in power in Germany who subscribed to a Darwinism view of life, they are all responsible for the holocaust. Interesting reading. Very in depth analysis.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this years ago. it was excellent!