The Books
Books
Three books in 2026, and one question runs through all of them. What remains irreducibly human when machines begin to speak, judge, and decide? Each stands alone. Together they make a single argument about consciousness, dignity, and meaning.
November 2026 · Ascension Press
Vigilant Hope
Preserving Human Dignity in an Age of Artificial Intelligence. Foreword by Katie Prejean McGrady.
An authentically Catholic perspective on artificial intelligence, drawing on Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. Written for a general readership, with study questions and a glossary for parish and classroom use.
May 2026 · The Catholic University of America Press
Can AI Ever Be Human?
Consciousness Explored. With Paul O'Hara.
Through Lonergan's cognitional structure, the argument that human consciousness is incommensurable with artificial intelligence. Machines can simulate behavior, but they cannot cross the threshold into genuine understanding, judgment, and decision.
July 2026 · Wipf & Stock / Pickwick
Mediated by Meaning
Consciousness and Conversion in the Thought of Jordan Peterson.
Jordan Peterson and Bernard Lonergan in formal conversation for the first time. Peterson diagnosed the wound; Lonergan mapped the anatomy; this book is the argument that follows.
Also by Steven Umbrello
Edited volumes, translations, and the full academic record are listed in the bibliography.