Renovatio: The Podcast

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 unifi

"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 S

“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 pr

In this podcast, Muhammad U. Faruque speaks with Esme Partridge on his recently published book, Sculpting the Self: Islam, Selfhood, and Human Flourishing, which examine notions of selfhood and subjectivity before and in the modern period. Muhammad U. Faruque is Inayat Malik Assistant Professor at the University of Cincinnati. Esmé L. K. Partridge is a writer on Islamic thought an

In a thought-provoking exchange, Rushain Abbasi, a scholar of Islamic thought, and Omar Qureshi, provost of Zaytuna College, present their ideas of why shirk retains theological utility for Muslims today because the concept goes far beyond idols of stone. Ubaydullah Evans facilitates the conversation. Rushain Abbasi is a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities and Lecturer in

Is there a way to reconcile modern intuitions about egalitarianism with historical relations based on hierarchy? Scholars Mohammad Fadel and Lawrence Jannuzzi discuss the contours of equality, power, and hierarchy from both an Islamic legal and contemporary political perspective. Mohammad Fadel is a professor of law at the University of Toronto. Lawrence Jannuzzi is a scholar of me

Stephen A. Gregg, a twice contributor to the journal speaks with Asad Tarsin about the inspiration behind his Renovatio essay, “The Only Real Solitude.” Stephen A. Gregg is a monk of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Dallas, in Texas. Joshua Lee Harris specializes in the philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

What better topic for discussion than beauty, muses Oludamini Ogunnaike, a regular contributor to Renovatio and a scholar of Islam in north and west Africa. Beauty is inseparable from truth, goodness, and justice, yet reference to it is missing from many of our most important discussions on those matters. The neglect of beauty has been detrimental to communities everywhere, notes O

Asad Tarsin, author of Being Muslim: A Practical Guide, speaks with Joshua Lee Harris, a specialist on the work of Thomas Aquinas, on his article for Renovatio, “The Human Arts of Graceful Giving and Grateful Receiving.” Tarsin and Harris exchange ideas about humility as a prerequisite for true gratefulness, Imam al-Ghazālī’s three components of gratitude, and what evolutio