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

Americans Are of Two Minds About the “Moral Acceptability” of Suicide

Wesley J. Smith
June 10, 2026
3
Euthanasia
Gallup just issued its annual poll on “moral acceptability.” I was struck by the dramatically different results in the two questions about suicide. The first question asked about “doctor assisted suicide.” Close to a majority, 49 percent, of respondents answered that committing suicide with a doctor’s help is morally acceptable, while 45 percent responded that it is not. The other question asked simply about the moral acceptability of “suicide.” Strikingly, only 21 percent said that it is morally acceptable to take one’s own life, while a whopping 70 percent said it is not. Indeed, suicide was one of the lowest “morally acceptable” behaviors in the entire poll. Only cloning humans, polygamy, and extramarital affairs had a …

Seven Miscarriages, Two Living Children, and the Hidden Grief So Few Talk About with Gabriela Anastasopoúlou

Arina Grossu Agnew
June 9, 2026
2
Bioethics

Peter Singer Criticizes Pope Leo’s Encyclical for Embracing Human Exceptionalism

Wesley J. Smith
June 6, 2026
6
Human Exceptionalism

New Jersey Doctor Has Legally Assisted About 200 Suicides

Wesley J. Smith
June 5, 2026
4
Euthanasia

“Nature’s Rights” Bill Presented in U.K. Parliament

Wesley J. Smith
June 4, 2026
4
Uncategorized

I Helped Hijack the Women’s Movement: How Roe v. Wade Was Sold to America with Sue Ellen Browder

Arina Grossu Agnew
June 2, 2026
2
Uncategorized

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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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