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

Another “Elephants Are Persons” Lawsuit Goes to a State Supreme Court

Wesley J. Smith
June 19, 2026
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Animal Welfare
Here we go again. Several years ago, the radical Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) sued in New York to have chimps declared “persons.” The case lost in the trial court and, ultimately, the court of appeals (the highest court in the state) refused to review it. But one high-court judge took the time to issue a concurring opinion (citing an animal-rights-promoting book) opining that while review would have been wrong, whether chimps should be proper subjects for a writ of habeas corpus is appropriate, in part because denying the right is “based on nothing more than the premise that a chimpanzee is not a member of the human species.” Next, the NhRP brought a lawsuit in New York to have a (now deceased) elephant named Happy, which (not who!) had resided at the …

The Health-Care Lexicon Is De-Professionalizing the Practice of Medicine

Wesley J. Smith
June 17, 2026
6
Bioethics

Stephen C. Meyer on “The Story of Everything”

Stephen C. Meyer
June 15, 2026
3

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

Wesley J. Smith
June 10, 2026
3
Euthanasia

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

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Podcast

Stephen C. Meyer on “The Story of Everything”

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Stephen C. Meyer
June 15, 2026
In 50 BC, the great Roman statesman Cicero expressed a thought that has been echoed by thinkers down the generations: “The celestial order and beauty of the universe compel me to admit that there is some excellent and eternal Being who deserves the respect and homage of men.” But in our own day, the evolutionary biologist and atheism proselytizer Richard Dawkins has claimed, “The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.” Dawkins believes that complex life and the cosmos arose through gradual, evolutionary mechanisms, not through any influence of a creator or purposeful creation. But which worldview does the scientific evidence …

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 …

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