Wesley J. Smith
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Wesley J. Smith (born 1949) is an American lawyer and author, a Senior Fellow at the
Discovery Institute The Discovery Institute (DI) is a politically conservative non-profit think tank based in Seattle, Washington, that advocates the pseudoscientific concept Article available froUniversiteit Gent/ref> of intelligent design (ID). It was founded ...
's Center on Human Exceptionalism, a politically conservative non-profit
think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
. He is also a consultant for the Patients Rights Council. Smith is known for his criticism of animal rights, environmentalism,
assisted suicide Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...
and utilitarian bioethics. He is also the host of the Humanize podcast. Smith has authored or co-authored fourteen books. He formerly collaborated with consumer advocate Ralph Nader, and has been published in regional and national outlets such as '' The New York Times'', '' Newsweek'', '' The Wall Street Journal'', '' USA Today'', the '' San Francisco Chronicle'', '' The Seattle Times'', the '' New York Post'', and others. He is also well known for his blog, "Human Exceptionalism", hosted by ''National Review'', which advances his theory of "
human exceptionalism Anthropocentrism (; ) is the belief that human beings are the central or most important entity in the universe. The term can be used interchangeably with humanocentrism, and some refer to the concept as human supremacy or human exceptionalism. F ...
" and defends intrinsic human dignity. He is a critic of those he labels "mainstream" bioethicists such as Peter Singer,
Julian Savulescu Julian Savulescu (born 22 December 1963) is an Australian philosopher and bioethicist of Romanian origins. He is Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford, Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford, director of the Oxford Uehiro Cen ...
,
Jacob M. Appel Jacob M. Appel (born February 21, 1973) is an American author, poet, bioethicist, physician, lawyer and social critic.Nagamatsu, Sequoia "A Few Words with the Ubiquitous Jacob M. Appel" ''Prince Mincer'' Journal http://primemincer.com/ confirmed ...
, and R. Alta Charo. He has also been highly critical of science writer Matt Ridley.


Biography

Smith practiced law in the San Fernando Valley from 1976–1985, at which time he left law practice to pursue other interests, particularly as a public policy advocate. His first book in 1987 was ''The Lawyer Book: A Nuts and Bolts Guide to Client Survival'', introduced by consumer advocate Ralph Nader beginning a collaboration between the two men. Smith is a prolific author and a frequent contributor to '' National Review'' and '' The Weekly Standard''. He closely followed the Terri Schiavo case in 2005, an
wrote frequently
on the topic. He opposes policies allowing for
assisted suicide Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...
,
euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...
, human cloning, and granting human style "rights" to animals," making a clear distinction between animal rights and animal welfare. He is also a noted critic of mainstream views in bioethics, human cloning research,
radical environmentalism Radical environmentalism is a grass-roots branch of the larger environmental movement that emerged from an ecocentrism-based frustration with the co-option of mainstream environmentalism. As a movement Philosophy The radical environmental mo ...
and of what he calls the radical animal liberation movement, which he worries exhibits "anti-humanism". His book ''Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America'' was named Best Health Book of the Year at the 2001 Independent Publishers Book Awards. Smith's 2010 book ''A Rat is a Pig is a Dog is a Boy'' is an anti-animal rights work which defends
factory farming Intensive animal farming or industrial livestock production, also known by its opponents as factory farming and macro-farms, is a type of intensive agriculture, specifically an approach to animal husbandry designed to maximize production, while ...
and human exceptionalism. Smith is one of the world's foremost apologists of "human exceptionalism," which he defends from a secular perspective. Smith is a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows, having appeared on national programs such as ''
Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
'' and ''
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'', as well as internationally on BBC Radio 4. He has testified as an expert witness in front of federal and state legislative committees, and is an international public speaker, appearing throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and many countries in Europe. Smith is married to the syndicated ''
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'' White House correspondent Debra J. Saunders.


Criticism

In a 2001 essay, physician Matthew K. Wynia and attorney Arthur Derse accused Smith of selectively using evidence to create a false impression that bioethics is a monolithic field. They argued that Smith was "prepared to bend the truth to make a point, turn a stomach, and potentially radicalize a reader." Smith rebutted these criticisms, stating in part, "Wynia and Derse assert that I claim bioethics is a monolith. That is not what I write. What I do believe is that bioethics has, generally, crystallized into an orthodoxy, perhaps even an ideology. I acknowledge that disagreements certainly exist within the field. But I view them, with some exceptions, as the arguing of people who agree on fundamentals but disagree on details -- sort of like Catholics bickering with Baptists." Sociologist John Sorenson has negatively reviewed Smith's book ''A Rat is a Pig is a Dog is a Boy'' as a "misleading, bad-faith compendium of anti-animal rights propaganda, based on a single idea: human exceptionalism". Sorenson criticized Smith for ignoring the negative environmental effects of factory farming including habitat destruction and loss of biodiversity from deforestation. Philosopher Angus Taylor noted that Smith has "little familiarity with the large range of literature on the moral status of animals". In contrast, in the book's preface, novelist Dean Koontz wrote: "Among other things, this book is a rational, reasonable argument for the need to accept the nuanced complexity of the world and to resist the dangerous simplifications of antihuman ideologies."


Bibliography

* ''The Lawyer Book: A Nuts and Bolts Guide to Client Survival'' Price Stern Sloan Publishers, 1987, * ''The Doctor Book: A Nuts and Bolts Guide to Patient Power'' Price Stern Sloan Publishers, 1988, * ''The Senior Citizen's Handbook: A Nuts and Bolts Guide to More Comfortable Living'' Price Stern Sloan Publishers, 1989, * ''Winning the Insurance Game'' (1990) Ralph Nader and Wesley J. Smith, * ''The Frugal Shopper'' (1991) Ralph Nader and Wesley J. Smith, * ''Collision Course: The Truth About Airline Safety'' (1993) Ralph Nader and Wesley J. Smith, * ''No Contest: Corporate Lawyers and the Perversion of Justice in America'' (1996) Random House, Ralph Nader and Wesley J. Smith, * ''Forced Exit: The Slippery Slope from Assisted Suicide to Legalized Murder'' (1997), * ''Forced Exit: Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, and the New Duty to Die'' (2006) Encounter Books, * ''Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America'' (2001), Encounter Books, * ''Power Over Pain'', Eric M. Chevlen, MD and Wesley J. Smith, 2002, * ''Consumer’s Guide to a Brave New World'' (2005), Encounter Books, * ''A Rat is a Pig is a Dog is a Boy: The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement'' (2010) Encounter Books, * ''The War on Humans'' (2014) * ''Culture of Death: The Age of "Do Harm" Medicine'' (2016)


See also

* Bioethics * The President's Council on Bioethics *
Stem Cell Research In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...
*
Euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...
*
Assisted Suicide Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...
* Animal liberation movement *
Human exceptionalism Anthropocentrism (; ) is the belief that human beings are the central or most important entity in the universe. The term can be used interchangeably with humanocentrism, and some refer to the concept as human supremacy or human exceptionalism. F ...
*
Baxter v. Montana ''Baxter v. Montana'', is a Montana Supreme Court case, argued on September 2, 2009, and decided on December 31, 2009, that addressed the question of whether the state's constitution guaranteed terminally ill patients a right to lethal prescript ...


References


External links


Humanize podcast

Human Exceptionalism Blog

Discovery Institute's Bioethics Program

Lecture on Euthanasia at Princeton
(downloads file)
Lecture: "Why Being Human Matters," presented August 16, 2007 at the Discovery Institute

Audio interview with Smith at National Review Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Wesley J. 1949 births Living people American lawyers Bioethicists Critics of animal rights Critics of vegetarianism Discovery Institute fellows and advisors Environmental skepticism Intelligent design advocates