Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
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French Page · Branch 2036 of 4529
YEAR 1808 · Entry 5817
French
p. 407117 août.
Il ne faut pas que notre jugement soit aussi difficile que notre goût. Notre goût décide de ce que nous aimons et juge d’un fait. Mais notre jugement doit décider de ce qui est aimable en soi. Il opère sur un principe, sur une loi et sur une abstraction. Notre goût peut être notre règle, mais n’est pas la règle d’autrui.
Notre goût juge de ce que nous aimons et notre jugement décide de ce qui convient. Voilà leurs fonctions respectives et ils doivent s’y contenir. Il faut qu’il y ait entre eux la même différence qu’entre l’inclination et la raison.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1808
p. 4072August 17.
Our judgment must not be as exacting as our taste. Our taste decides what we love and judges a fact. But our judgment must decide what is lovable in itself. It works upon a principle, upon a law, and upon an abstraction. Our taste can be our rule, but it is not the rule for others.
Our taste judges what we love and our judgment decides what is fitting. These are their respective functions, and they must keep within them. There must be the same difference between them as between inclination and reason.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1808 · Entry 5817
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 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.