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Hitler’s Ethic: The Nazi Pursuit of Evolutionary Progress
In this book, Weikart helps unlock the mystery of Hitler's evil by vividly demonstrating the surprising conclusion that Hitler's immorality flowed from a coherent ethic. Hitler was inspired by evolutionary ethics to pursue the utopian project of biologically improving the human race.
- GenresHistory
267 pages, Paperback
First published July 21, 2009
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105 people want to read
About the author
Richard Weikart
10 books39 followersDr. 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 18, 2025
Started reading, got into it: accessible prose, interesting topic. Then looked up the author and, goddamn it, he's a creationist! This renders him completely untrustworthy on this topic as, regardless of how accurate his sources are, his interpretations can only be colored by his reactionary views on science in general and evolution in particular. Disappointing.
December 18, 2020
0Interesting look into a mind filled with hate and pseudo-scientific ideas.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews