Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition

Joseph Joubert

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II

Name: The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II
Author: Joseph Joubert

Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.

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The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume IIAccording to Plato · Entry 6801

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English Page · Branch 3020 of 4529

According to Plato · Entry 6801

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6039

9 novembre.

Si « l’incrédulité est une espèce d’effort », comme le disoit fort bien l’abbé Galliani, il s’ensuit de là que l’incrédulité (en exercice) a le goût faussé.

L’incrédulité dogmatique est en effet un état d’irritation et d’exaltation, un état de guerre perpétuel contre nous mêmes (notre éducation, nos habitudes, nos premières opinions), contre les autres (nos pères, nos frères, nos voisins, nos anciens maîtres), contre l’ordre public que nous croyons être un désordre, contre le temps présent que nous croyons moins éclairé qu’il ne doit l’être, contre le temps passé dont nous méprisons l’ignorance et la simplicité. L’avenir et le genre humain dans son éternité future, voilà les deux idoles et les seules idoles de l’incrédulité systhématique.

Si l’incrédulité systhématique et acquise est un état d’irritation et de guerre, l’irréligion par ignorance ou faute d’instruction est un état de rudesse et de barbarie intérieure. L’esprit qu’aucune croyance religieuse, aucune foi n’a plié et amolli reste sauvage et incapable d’une certaine culture et d’un certain ensemencement.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: According to Plato

p. 6040

November 9.

If “unbelief is a kind of effort,” as Abbé Galliani said very well, it follows that unbelief (in practice) has a distorted taste.

Dogmatic unbelief is indeed a state of irritation and exaltation, a state of perpetual war against ourselves (our education, our habits, our first opinions), against others (our fathers, our brothers, our neighbors, our former teachers), against the public order that we believe to be a disorder, against the present age that we believe less enlightened than it ought to be, against the past age whose ignorance and simplicity we despise. The future and the human race in its future eternity: those are the two idols and the only idols of systematic unbelief.

If systematic and acquired unbelief is a state of irritation and war, irreligion through ignorance or lack of instruction is a state of roughness and inner barbarism. The mind that no religious belief, no faith has bent and softened remains wild and incapable of a certain cultivation and a certain sowing.

T347.The quotation is limited to the effort formulation. The printed parenthesis around en exercice is complete, so both English parentheses are retained. Galliani keeps the printed double l without silently normalizing the name. Said renders the citation imperfect without asserting repeated occasions. The conditional and taste judgment remain.

T691.All three paragraphs remain separate and the day 9 is intact. Galliani retains the printed double l. Both systhématique occurrences visibly include h after t; neither is normalized. Native intérieure has a short t, not an f, before the accented e. The quotation and en exercice parentheses remain bounded exactly. All five contre relations, the two parenthetic lists, unhyphenated nous mêmes, the two/only-idols repetition and final paired culture/ensemencement remain. The first parenthetic citation’s disoit remains imperfect, without inferring repeated occasions.

T348.All five against relations, both parenthetic lists, repeated state and the two/only idols remain. Irritation and exaltation retain their historical affective meanings without a modern diagnosis. The future eternity image is not rationalized. The French retains systhématique with th; it is not normalized.

T349.The conditional contrast between acquired unbelief and uninstructed irreligion remains. Both no formulations, bent/softened and the repeated a certain stay distinct. Cultivation and sowing preserve the agricultural image without identifying a seed or particular religion. Inner renders the native intérieure, distinct from an unconfirmed inférieure reading; the French retains its t.

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 II continues the notebooks and includes seventy undated pieces. 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.