The dignity of man in his potential to be whatever he desires to be, this fifteenth-century Italian prince & philosopher gave rise to the modern secular worldview that privileges self-actualization above all else.Essay by Esme Partridge

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, an Islamic studies expert, argues that jihad is defensive based on Quranic verses and classical Muslim scholars. The conversation explores just conduct in conflicts, non-combatant immunity in Islamic traditions, the genealogy of non-combatant immunity in Islamic and Western traditions, and the importance of military ethics and humanity in conflict.