About this Blog

This is a philosophy blog, and I think it is relatively unusual in seeking to develop a philosophical thesis in a blog format.  The format would seem perfect for the task, naturally supporting dialogue and commentary through cross-linking and the comment section; there must be others doing this.  (If you know of any others please let me know.)

More specifically, this is a blog about the philosophy of Jane Austen as encapsulated in her novels.  As many have noted (notably Gilbert Ryle, but actually all of her great critics), she was a moralist as well as a novelist.  It is my contention that she was a great moralist as well as a great novelist, and her main business was to critique the new Romantic philosophy that emerged from the 18th century Enlightenment, to highlight the confusion and destructive consequences of such an irrational turn, and to reinterpret classical ethics for modernity.

I will augment the principal thread with topical diversions along the way.

The blog will take the form of posts commenting on various posts from the perspective of the blogs thesis, in the usual way, but I will from time to time post an essay here broken across several posts: see the Essays page.