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 IIYEAR 1814 · Entry 7084

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French Page · Branch 3303 of 4529

YEAR 1814 · Entry 7084

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6605

13 et 14 août.

Quand on isole sa faculté rationatrice de toutes ses autres facultés; quand on parvient à rendre abstrait aux yeux de son esprit ce qu’il y a de plus réel et même de plus solide dans le monde et pour les sens et pour le cœur, tout est douteux, tout est problématique et tout peut être contesté. Que parlez-vous d’ordre, de beauté, etc.? Il n’y a pour la faculté rationatrice isolée que des non ou des oui, des absences ou des existences, des unités ou des nullités.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1814

p. 6606

August 13 and 14.

When one isolates one’s reasoning faculty from all one’s other faculties; when one succeeds in making abstract in the eyes of one’s mind what is most real and even most solid in the world, for the senses and for the heart, everything is doubtful, everything is problematic and everything can be disputed. Why do you speak of order, beauty, etc.? For the isolated reasoning faculty there are only noes or yeses, absences or existences, units or nullities.

T285.Both when clauses, all, even and all three everything statements remain. The final three paired alternatives preserve the noun forms; only noes and yeses correspond to the two italic French words. The compound date remains August 13 and 14 without dividing the paragraph. Why reads Que as a rhetorical question about the reason for invoking order or beauty before the faculty’s restricted alternatives; it does not supply an answer. Only the two English noun forms noes and yeses receive source italics, leaving or and following punctuation roman. The 1798 Académie entry attests the causal sense of Que but calls its use without a negative uncommon; the rhetorical choice here rests on the local argument, not on an exact dictionary example.

T558.The two complete days are joined by et on one date line; they are not replaced by a continuous inferred interval. Both quand clauses, the semicolon, repeated pour, tout and three final alternative pairs remain. Rationatrice is repeated literally. Only non and oui are italic; their articles, conjunction and comma are roman. The visible material below existences is reverse-side show-through, not a source call or a new division. Ne…que is restrictive.

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.