Center on Human Exceptionalism

The mission of Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism is to affirm and uphold the intrinsic nature of human dignity, liberty, and equality. In resistance to a growing movement against unique human personhood, we aim to revitalize a commitment to the traditional Western view of human rights and human responsibilities — summed up by the term “human exceptionalism.” Read more

Humanize

Bioethicists: “Terminally Sedate” People Committing Suicide by Self-Starvation

Wesley J. Smith
May 26, 2026
5
Euthanasia
In a newly released paper in the prestigious journal Bioethics, three prominent bioethicists argue that when someone decides to commit suicide via self-starvation and dehydration — known in euthanasia movement parlance as “voluntary stop eating and drinking” (VSED) — doctors should be allowed to “terminally sedate” the person trying to die when necessary to prevent intractable suffering. Patients who commit VSED are often not terminally ill. In fact, euthanasia organizations promote self-starvation to the elderly who are not dying and as a means of becoming eligible for assisted suicide where it is legal by making oneself “terminal” via lack of sustenance. VSED must be distinguished from the common circumstance when actively dying people stop …

“Glaciers Are More Than Human Beings”

Wesley J. Smith
May 23, 2026
4
Uncategorized

“Watershed Bill of Rights” Initiative Fails in Oregon

Wesley J. Smith
May 21, 2026
2
Nature and Conservation

Would New Jersey Bill Authorize Slow-Motion Euthanasia of Dementia Patients?

Wesley J. Smith
May 19, 2026
2
Euthanasia

Timothy S. Goeglein on Restoring a Legacy of Faith, Freedom, and Family

Timothy S. Goeglein
May 18, 2026
2

Another “Scientific” Attack on Free Will

Wesley J. Smith
May 15, 2026
5
Human Exceptionalism

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Podcast

Timothy S. Goeglein on Restoring a Legacy of Faith, Freedom, and Family

Timothy S. Goeglein
May 18, 2026
The United States is in a cultural crisis. Our young are experiencing unprecedented levels of mental illness. Family structures are crumbling with out-of-wedlock births increasing while, at the same time, the number of children being born is decreasing. Some worry about masculinity under attack while others believe that “toxic masculinity” is the cause of most problems. Many are even worried that democracy itself is in real and present danger. It’s all a big mess. How do we restore societal equilibrium? In a new compendium of his many columns on cultural issues, What Really Matters, Timothy S. Goeglein offers readers what he calls a “blueprint” to encourage us “to reevaluate the road we currently travel” and get back to the basics of …

Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr. on His Life and the Importance of America’s Founding Principles

Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr.
April 27, 2026
In our badly fractured society, can public servants and politicians act with decency and argue about policy with restraint and dignity? We believe the answer is yes, and so Wesley invited a man on the show who epitomizes such virtues to talk about his varied career and the importance of the nation’s founding principles. Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., MD, was born in Detroit to a single mother with a third-grade education, who raised her son to love reading and learning. He graduated from Yale University and earned his M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School. For nearly 30 years, Dr. Carson served as Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, a position he assumed when he was just 33 years old, becoming the youngest major …

Jan Jekielek on China’s Forced Organ Harvesting Atrocity

Jan Jekielek
March 23, 2026
In one of the great atrocities in human history, Chinese political prisoners are tissue-typed and later murdered and harvested to supply the country’s thriving organ transplant black market. How long have regime enemies been so targeted and how does the system work? For years, that has been difficult to discern fully. China is one of the world’s most secretive societies and unequivocal answers have proved elusive. Until now. Wesley’s guest Jan Jekielek has written a crucial book — Killed to Order: China’s Organ Harvesting Industry and the True Nature of America’s Biggest Adversary — in which he explains in detail how the organ harvesting system operates, who benefits, why the government permits such cruelty, and what can be done about it. Jekielek …

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