Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
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Facing Pages · Branch 1060 of 3781
YEAR 1798 · Entry 1060
French
p. 21197 septembre.
Pour la note sur Aristote.
C’est entre le robuste et le penseur un contrat qui se passe à leur propre insçu. — La domesticité à vie, un esclavage consenti; et non seulement consenti, mais débattu et stipulé. — Il faut que le magistrat examine d’abord s’il y a infériorité et supériorité de nature et de destinée, ou si par la fortune l’un a le pouvoir de donner et l’autre le besoin de recevoir; enfin si l’intérêt immuable de celui qui veut obéir dépend de celui qui veut commander. — Esclave personnel, esclave héréditaire; sa naissance le veut de l’un, sa nature le veut de l’autre. — Faire en sorte que l’intelligence gouverne.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1798
p. 2120September 7.
For the note on Aristotle.
It is a contract between the strong man and the thinker, made without their own knowledge. — Lifelong domestic service, an enslavement consented to; and not merely consented to, but debated and stipulated. — The magistrate must first examine whether there is inferiority and superiority of nature and destiny, or whether fortune gives one the power to give and the other the need to receive; finally, whether the unchanging interest of the one who wishes to obey depends on the one who wishes to command. — A slave in his own person, a hereditary slave; birth requires it of one, nature of the other. — Arrange things so that intelligence governs.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1798 · Entry 1060
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.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.