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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French Page · Branch 1985 of 3781
TRAVEL · Entry 1985
French
p. 3969« Le bien et le mal (même moral) n’est (dit Locke), comme nous l’avons montré ailleurs, que le plaisir ou la douleur. » On peut dire de cette manière de s’exprimer ce que Sénèque disoit à peu près de la doctrine d’Epicure : « La vérité y est au dedans et l’erreur y est au dehors. » L’utilité en est cachée et le danger y saute aux yeux.
Il s’ensuit du moins de là que, si l’idée de vice et de vertu [est] variable parmi les hommes, celle de bonnes et de mauvaises œuvres, de péché, comme dit Locke, et d’action agréable à Dieu le sont moins. Aussi toutes les religions ont-elles la même morale, quand le bien et le mal philosophiques, le vice et la vertu civils sont différens dans la plupart des sociétés et des écoles.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: TRAVEL
p. 3970“Good and evil (even moral) are (says Locke), as we have shown elsewhere, only pleasure or pain.” One may say of this manner of expression what Seneca said, approximately, of Epicurus’s doctrine: “Truth is on the inside and error on the outside.” Its usefulness is hidden, and its danger leaps to the eye.
It follows at least that, if the idea of vice and virtue [is] variable among men, that of good and bad works, of sin, as Locke says, and of action pleasing to God is less so. Thus all religions have the same morality, while philosophical good and evil, civil vice and virtue, differ in most societies and schools.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · TRAVEL · Entry 1985
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.