ABSTRACT
In this introductory chapter, I provide an overview of Austen’s novels and of reasoning by description. My goal in this book, which I establish in this chapter, is to derive from Austen a modern version of descriptive reasoning. Austen can give us ways of understanding the relationship between situational descriptions and more general descriptions of life, both of which have become impoverished and weak within modern societies. The entire book constitutes a reflexive essay, articulating an ethic of description that addresses how best to reason about people, situations, and life as such.
