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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Facing Pages · Branch 2725 of 4529
1812 · Entry 6506
French
p. 544923 décembre.
Nous sommes construits de manière à ne concevoir aucune qualité existante qu’en regard de son espèce, d’une espèce que nous lui supposons préexistante. Ainsi, quand nous disons que Dieu est juste, nous supposons que tout en lui est conforme à une justice que nous imaginons presque hors de lui. Toujours l’idée avant la chose. Tout ce que nous concevons est placé par nous dans un temps et dans un lieu comme dans un cadre : c’est une autre condition de notre intelligence.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: 1812
p. 5450December 23.
We are constructed so as to conceive no existing quality except in relation to its kind, a kind that we suppose to preexist it. Thus, when we say that God is just, we suppose that everything in him conforms to a justice that we imagine almost outside him. Always the idea before the thing. Everything we conceive is placed by us in a time and in a place as in a frame: this is another condition of our understanding.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · 1812 · Entry 6506
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.