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 IYEAR 1797 · Entry 714

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English Page · Branch 714 of 3781

YEAR 1797 · Entry 714

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 1427

1ᵉʳ mars.

La démocratie et l’esclavage inséparables. Pourquoi.

La démocratie, telle qu’elle étoit chez les anciens, n’est que le gouvernement d’un nombre d’hommes assés grand pour être appelé peuple. Mais cette dénomination est fausse. Le vrai peuple, dans un tel état, le plus grand nombre, la majorité est dans la classe des esclavages, et l’esclavage s’introduit inévitablement dans un pays ainsi gouverné, parce qu’il est impossible que ceux qui passent leur temps à faire des lois puissent faire des chaussures, des habits, semer, labourer, etc.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1797

p. 1428

March 1.

Democracy and slavery inseparable. Why.

Democracy, as it existed among the ancients, is only government by a number of men large enough to be called a people. But this designation is false. The true people, in such a state, the greater number, the majority, is in the class of slaveries, and slavery inevitably enters a country governed in this way, because it is impossible for those who spend their time making laws to make shoes, clothes, sow, plow, etc.

S1.Source editor’s annotationMarch 1, 1797.—Letter dated 1 Vˢᵉ (February 19, 1797), received on Monday of the same month. Matter concluded on 29 Pluˢᵉ (January 30). Arbitrators: on one side M. Lanxade, Grand de Thénon, la Pradelle, and Valette, lieutenant of gendarmerie. Sum 2,000 ff., of which 400 ff. paid. Two notes, payable at four-month intervals. N. B. each note for 800 ff.; the letter reads, by erasure, 850 ff. (Na. maréchal des logis). “Change of notebook: March 1, 1797. Joubert, Maison Moreau, rue du Pont, in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne. A reward to those who bring this wallet back to the address above.” Then: “Commission carried out. Mr Lamothe departed.”

T9.The facsimile prints esclavages, slaveries, in classe des esclavages. Slaves would require the conjectural reading esclaves. The anomalous printed wording is retained in both languages.

T10.The source’s abbreviated revolutionary months Vˢᵉ and Pluˢᵉ, parenthetical dates, amounts, ff., and Na. are retained. Its printed January 30 is not silently converted or corrected. Maréchal des logis is left as the historical title, associated with responsibility for quarters; the note does not establish a precise office or modern equivalent rank.

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.