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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English Page · Branch 2373 of 3781
[LOCKE] · Entry 2373
French
p. 4745[…]1 février.
Un disciple de Locke presse Leibnitz de décider si un enfantement monstrueux, un animal né d’une femme a ou n’a pas une âme d’homme. Leibnitz répond : « Soit qu’il ait une âme raisonnable, ou qu’il en ait une qui ne le soit pas, Dieu ne l’aura pas faite pour rien. » (Nouveaux essais sur l’entendement, in 4ᵒ pag. 301.) Cela est beau et d’autant plus sage que c’est là proprement remplir le vuide d’une question indiscrète par une vérité plus importante que celle qu’on auroit cherchée et qu’on n’auroit pas pu trouver, ou du moins prouver.
Se souvenir à ce propos de la réponse de Fénelon au p. Lami sur la prédestination.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [LOCKE]
p. 4746February […]1.
A disciple of Locke presses Leibnitz to decide whether a monstrous birth, an animal born of a woman, has or does not have a man’s soul. Leibnitz replies: “Whether it has a rational soul or one that is not, God will not have made it for nothing.” (Nouveaux essais sur l’entendement, quarto, p. 301.) That is beautiful, and all the wiser because it is precisely to fill the void of an indiscreet question with a truth more important than the one that would have been sought and could not have been found, or at least proved.
To remember in this connection Fénelon’s reply to Father Lami on predestination.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [LOCKE] · Entry 2373
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.