Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition

Joseph Joubert

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I

Name: The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I
Author: Joseph Joubert

Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.

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The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I[SAVIGNY NOTEBOOK] · Entry 2153

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[SAVIGNY NOTEBOOK] · Entry 2153

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 4305

[…]8, vendredi.

Les grands métaphysiciens sont ceux qui ont de grandes ou belles ou justes idées de Dieu, de l’âme, du ciel, du monde, de la science. Les grands logiciens, ceux qui raisonnent bien. D’où l’on voit que la logique est en action ou opération; la métaphysique, en contemplation, en vues et en peintures, si le métaphysicien devient auteur.

Pour qu’un raisonnement fût très clair, il faudroit que les prémices fussent deux vérités sensibles sans ce raisonnement, et la conséquence évidente.

Le métaphysicien est un opticien qui, à l’aide de..., rend les êtres qui sont invisibles, ou en leur donnant une forme, ou en plaçant sur nos yeux d’invisibles lunettes.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [SAVIGNY NOTEBOOK]

p. 4306

Friday, August […]8.

Great metaphysicians are those who have great or beautiful or just ideas of God, the soul, heaven, the world, knowledge. Great logicians, those who reason well. From which we see that logic is in action or operation; metaphysics, in contemplation, in views and in paintings, if the metaphysician becomes an author.

For a piece of reasoning to be very clear, its premises would have to be two truths perceptible without this reasoning, and the conclusion self-evident.

The metaphysician is an optician who, with the aid of..., renders beings that are invisible, either by giving them a form or by placing invisible spectacles upon our eyes.

T73.Just renders justes as fitting or sound. Knowledge renders science in its broad intellectual sense. Views and paintings retain the contrast with logical action and operation.

T263.The day’s terminal 8 is legible; the leading digit is obscured by the damaged left edge. A reading 28 is plausible but not certified from this witness, so it is not supplied. The optician sentence’s missing complement after rend les êtres is preserved; no visible is inserted in French. Printed prémices retained; several clipped left-edge initials are completed from surviving words.

T86.Premises reads the source’s printed prémices in the logical sense prémisses. The French spelling remains; two premises and the self-evident conclusion retain the argument’s terms.

T74.The source leaves both with the aid of... and the predicate renders beings that are invisible incomplete; English does not silently add visible after renders. The invisible spectacles remain an image.

About This Reading Edition

Joubert’s notebooks return to the work of thinking and writing, the demands of friendship, and questions of faith, beauty and conduct. This edition pairs the French with a new English translation, preserving the order of the chosen source and the unfinished character of its fragments. Dates and source references allow readers to follow a thought through time or return to its printed context.

Historical Text and Translation

The French text follows André Beaunier’s 1938 edition of Les Carnets de Joseph Joubert, published by Gallimard from Joubert’s autograph manuscripts. Volume I presents the entries on printed pages 32–475. French and English are aligned paragraph by paragraph, retaining the source order, printed dates and page references so readers can return to the facsimile.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared this new English translation directly from the French, preserving Joubert’s distinctions, recurring images, ambiguities and unfinished thoughts. Translator’s notes clarify wording, references and uncertain readings: Essential keeps notes that help explain a passage, while All includes technical detail. Annotations from the 1938 source edition remain distinct from the new translator’s notes.

Rights

The linked facsimile records identify the French source as public domain in the United States. The new English translation and editorial notes are © 2026 Diotimos, with source annotations and new editorial contributions credited separately. This edition pairs the complete French notebooks with an independent English translation, preserving the distinction between Joubert’s text and its accompanying notes.