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 6744

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English Page · Branch 2963 of 4529

According to Plato · Entry 6744

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 5925

[…]0 septembre.

Voilà qui est assés pour la raison humaine (dites-vous). Soit. Mais […]our son imagination, pour ses espérances, pour ses craintes, pour ses […]abitudes? Il faut que la religion soit faite pour l’homme sensible, […]our l’homme imaginatif et pour l’homme animal et machinal, aussi […]ien que pour l’homme raisonnable et raisonnant.

Et où avez-vous vu beaucoup d’hommes qui raisonnent ou dans les[…]uels la raison domine?

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

p. 5926

September […]0.

That is enough for human reason (you say). So be it. But [for] its imagination, for its hopes, for its fears, for its [habits]? Religion must be made for feeling man, [for] imaginative man and for animal, mechanical man, as [well] as for reasonable, reasoning man.

And where have you seen many men who reason or in [whom] reason predominates?

T265.The parenthetic reply, concession and four repeated for questions remain. The source’s initial possessive shifts are left visible; the later repeated man unfolds its several capacities. Feeling, imagination, animal/mechanical and reasonable/reasoning remain distinct. The two [for] brackets, [habits] and [well] interpret the damaged pour, habitudes and bien. The three other for phrases in the question are intact.

T638.Only terminal 0 is complete in the damaged day; its preceding remnant does not certify a digit. Both paragraphs remain distinct. Assés and the parenthetic dites-vous remain literal. Clipped openings retain our, abitudes, our and ien, and the last wrapped relative retains les before the break and uels after it; the incomplete preceding q-like contour is not recovered as a whole letter. The final question keeps ou and the reasoning/reason relation.

T266.The separate And question keeps many rather than a universal denial. Reasoning and the predominance of reason remain alternatives. Whole English [whom] corresponds to the damaged relative les[…]uels; in remains outside the bracket for intact dans.

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.