Does reading help you think if you write your thoughts about what you’re reading? What’s the difference between writing books about books, and writing books drawn from one’s own experiences? Such questions relate to matters that are both practical and philosophical. In this episode of our podcast, Safir Ahmed, editor of Renovatio, interviews philosopher Sophia Vasalou who writes engagingly on philosophical theology, virtue ethics, Al-Ghazali, Schopenhauer, wonder, and much more. The conversation springs from Vasalou’s essay, “Can We Think Deeply About Important Ideas Without Writing About Them?” which argues that writing that cultivates the ideals of intellectual and moral growth must eschew the illusions of originality and detachment. Vasalou shares insights from her scholarly journey, discussing the distinction between writing about philosophical concepts and writing from personal experience, particularly in her works on moral beauty and the experience of wonder. 

Who is better placed to say what Islam is: the academic from the “outside” or the practitioner from “within”? In this episode of the Renovatio podcast, Ubaydullah Evans interviews Caner Dagli, a scholar of Islamic Studies, to explore the surprisingly elusive answer to the question: “Who gets to define Islam?” As an academic, Dagli critiques the approach the academy has historically taken in defining Islam within certain predetermined frameworks. They explore the tension among scholars in their attempts to define Islam, the tug between whether to hold the practice of Muslim laity or the pronouncements of Muslim scholars with greater authority, and the tension between unity and diversity in the practice and belief of Muslims worldwide. We encourage you to read Caner Dagli’s article, “Islam as One Thing, Anything, or Nothing: What the Western Academy Gets Wrong.”

Asma Afsaruddin argues that jihad (martial engagement) as articulated in the Qur’an and by numerous classical Muslim scholars is primarily defensive in nature. The crux of her argument relies on relevant verses from the Qur’an and prominent Sunni exegetes such as Ibn Abbas, Mujahib ibn Jabbar, and Fakhr al-Din al-Razi. These commentators, writes Asfaruddin, argue that the Qur’an only authorizes Muslims to retaliate against those who aggress upon them. In conversation with Ubaydullah Evans, Asma Afsaruddin draws out the major arguments of her recent article Justice, Nonaggression, and Military Ethics in Islam.

Modern science identifies the self with the brain, but this materialist conception of the self is wholly insufficient. 

Lenn E. Goodman, an expert on Jewish and Islamic metaphysics, joins Esme Partridge to discuss the philosophical heritage of AI (artificial intelligence)—which he locates in the medieval and renaissance study of alchemy, which ultimately sought to create man from matter—and the implications of our rapid embrace of AI.

"One thing that is true of [the Great Books] list is that you cannot… think that it is a unified, monolithic view of the truth. Hobbes and Machiavelli disagree vehemently with Plato, right? There's some continuity there, but Aquinas does not agree with David Hume, who is an atheist. So, at a minimum, an honest reading of that tradition is an introduction not to a monolithic unified conception of what the truth is, but to a series of important debates."—Thomas Hibbs

Philosopher Thomas Hibbs and host Ubaydullah Evans explore one of the most repeated objections to the universal benefits of a liberal arts education.

Recommended Read: 

“The Egalitarian Objection to Liberal Education,” Thomas Hibbs, Renovatio

"The empirical in the traditional notion of reason is only one component in the uncovering of our knowledge. But knowledge really involves uncovering the intelligible object. So what that means is the intelligible object is not there in the empirical world—that actually means transcending the empirical world to make contact with this intelligible essence."

Zaytuna lecturer Hasan Spiker identifies the true ground of objectivity in a conversation with Esme Partridge. 

“If your ultimate concern is yourself, if you have spent your life building a monument to yourself, then in biblical terms, that’s idolatry. I think we live in an idolatrous society…  I think it is extremely difficult for people to achieve a moral life without a community.”

Chris Hedges speaks to Renovatio editor Safir Ahmed about what fuels our contemporary narcissism and prevents us fulfilling our moral obligations to our selves and to society. 

Recommended Read: 

“How the Cult of the Self Undermines the Rule of Law,” Chris Hedges, Renovatio