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 982 of 3781
YEAR 1798 · Entry 982
French
p. 1963Souveraineté. L’idée que ce mot veut exprimer ne peut se présenter nettement à l’esprit si le corrélatif qu’il présuppose n’est exprimé ou entendu en même temps. Quand on dit qu’un peuple est souverain, on ne dit rien de clair, si on ne veut dire qu’il commande à d’autres peuples et en est le Roi. Etre souverain ou maître de soi-même s’entend en morale et quand il s’agit de l’empire qu’un individu peut exercer sur ses passions. Mais en politique ce mot ne veut rien dire hors des cas extraordinaires.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1798
p. 1964Sovereignty. The idea this word seeks to express cannot present itself clearly to the mind unless the correlative it presupposes is expressed or understood at the same time. When one says that a people is sovereign, one says nothing clear unless one means that it commands other peoples and is their King. To be sovereign or master of oneself is intelligible in morals and when it is a question of the dominion an individual can exercise over his passions. But in politics this word means nothing except in extraordinary cases.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1798 · Entry 982
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.