Talk:Richard Weikart
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Many statements in the article, Richard Weikart, are patently false (at least in its present 11-8-06 permutation), and the article violates Wikipedia’s pledge of neutrality. Since I (Richard Weikart) am understandably not allowed to edit this page, I’m relegated to making corrections in this venue.
Here are the most obvious errors:
First, I am no longer associate professor, but full professor (and chair of the Department of History at my university). While it’s understandable that someone might use outdated information, the updated information was available on my on-line vita, so the author of this article was rather sloppy in his or her research.
Second, I am not controversial for my “attacks on evolutionary theory.” In none of my published writings have I ever attacked evolutionary theory. Since I am a research fellow of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, it is not difficult to figure out that I am not a fan of neo-Darwinism. However, the claim that I am controversial for attacking evolutionary theory is simply false. My work is controversial, because it examines the unsavory impact Darwinism had on social thought, ethics, and morality. I show that prominent Darwinists themselves promoted eugenics, infanticide, involuntary euthanasia for the disabled, and racial extermination in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and I show the way they used Darwinian theory to buttress their ideology. Some people do not like hearing about this, but it happened. (I do not claim that all Darwinists promoted these ideas, but many did).
Next, the claim that my book was mostly funded by Discovery Institute is both false and confusing. It is confusing, because the book was published by the peer-reviewed scholarly publisher, Palgrave Macmillan, without any subsidies. Thus, the book was funded solely by the publisher. Discovery Institute did not shell out a dime for its publication. Further, the statement is false, even if the intended meaning is that the *research* for the book was funded mostly by Discovery Institute. While Discovery Institute did provide some research funds to me, they did not provide most of the funding. My own university, California State University, Stanislaus, provided more funding for my research than did the Discovery Institute.
Next, the book cover contains no such statement as the one listed in the Wikipedia article. The statement listed is taken from my website, not from the book cover.
Concerning Ann Taylor Allen’s review, she is entitled to her opinion. A response to her and other of my critics can be read at http://www.csustan.edu/history/faculty/weikart/response-to-critics.htm. Her claim that believing Christians and Jews do not oppose abortion and euthanasia is anachronistic. It is true today, but it was not true in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries—-the period covered by my book.
Besides all the wrong information contained in the article about me, the Wikipedia entry is not neutral and balanced, because it conveniently ignores all my achievements. Anyone who wants to know about the scholarly prizes I have won, or the peer-reviewed articles I have published about social Darwinism, need only consult my on-line vita: www.csustan.edu/history/faculty/weikart/vita.htm
I do not deny that my book has been controversial and has received some negative reviews, and there is nothing wrong with Wikipedia drawing attention to criticisms of my position. However, one would never guess from the Wikipedia article that some prominent historians endorsed my book, nor that my book has received many positive reviews, such as one in _German Studies Review_, which stated, “This book will prove to be an invaluable source for anyone wondering how closely linked Social Darwinism aRichnd Nazi ideologies, especially as uttered by Hitler, really were.”
Richard Weikart, Professor and Chair Dept. of History California State Univ., Stanislaus —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 130.17.182.200 (talk • contribs) 01:06, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
