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

Should Suicide by Self-Starvation Be Grounds for Hospice Care?

Wesley J. Smith
August 21, 2026
4
Euthanasia
The other day, in response to the British Medical Association requiring doctors to participate in VSED (voluntary stop eating and drinking) suicides, I wrote that “suicide nihilism is exerting an ever-increasing gravitational force.” With this post, I double down on that depressing conclusion. Hospice was designed to care for people who are diagnosed with terminal illnesses until their natural deaths. But a study just published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management — the publication of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine — argues that people intending to commit suicide via VSED should qualify for hospice care even if they are not otherwise dying! What? Why? Because someone dying within six months qualifies for hospice. VSED takes less …

British Medical Association Requires Doctors to Help Patients Commit Suicide by Self-Starvation

Wesley J. Smith
August 19, 2026
4
Euthanasia

New England Journal of Medicine Opinion Editor Takes Credit for Ruining Its Reputation

Wesley J. Smith
August 16, 2026
5
Science Journals

Using Mild Language to Sell “Rights of Nature” Radicalism

Wesley J. Smith
August 15, 2026
6
Nature and Conservation

Wesley J. Smith Discusses Latest Surrogacy Controversy and Wildfires with Janet Parshall

Editor
August 14, 2026
1
Bioethics

Commercial Surrogacy Turns Women into Machines, Babies into Products

Wesley J. Smith
August 13, 2026
4
Bioethics

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Podcast

Robert J. Marks II on the Benefits and Potential Perils of Artificial Intelligence

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Robert J. Marks II
August 10, 2026
We are in the age of artificial intelligence. But what does that mean for the human future? Some claim that AI is merely a very sophisticated tool that will lead to stunning societal improvements such as miraculous medical breakthroughs, greater economic efficiency, and an exponential increase in human knowledge. But others worry that an out-of-human-control AI could destroy liberty, create immeasurable societal destruction, and perhaps, even unleash a technological Armageddon that brings about the end of the human race. Which is it? Or are both potential possibilities? To sort it all out for us, on this special summer edition of Humanize, Wesley asked Discovery Institute’s Robert J. Marks II to return for his third appearance. An electrical engineer by education and …

Stephen C. Meyer on “The Story of Everything”

15
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 …

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