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 1816 · Entry 7603

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French Page · Branch 3822 of 4529

YEAR 1816 · Entry 7603

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 7643

2 avril.

Ce n’est pas le cerveau qui pense, mais la pensée met le cerveau en exercice, en mouvement, en érection pour ainsi dire. Comme ce n’est pas le cœur qui aime, le foye qui hait.

La pensée se fait sentir au cerveau, l’amour au cœur, la haine au foye.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1816

p. 7644

April 2.

It is not the brain that thinks, but thought sets the brain to work, in motion, in erection, so to speak. Just as it is not the heart that loves, the liver that hates.

Thought makes itself felt in the brain, love in the heart, hatred in the liver.

T56.The denied brain-agent relation and the active thought-agent relation remain. The three parallel conditions culminate in the unusual erection image, qualified by so to speak; it is not silently softened into arousal or activity. The final As fragment keeps the heart/liver comparison and shared negation. The historical physiological claim remains Joubert’s.

T236.Complete day 2 heads two physically separate paragraphs. Both negative clefts and all three en phrases remain, with pour ainsi dire and the dependent Comme sentence. The second paragraph retains its reflexive predicate and two parallel omitted predicates. Foye occurs twice exactly; hait has a single ordinary i dot with no certified circumflex in the original-size color. The right-edge cerveau/ce/au remain complete. No physical theory is supplied to complete the fragments.

T57.All three faculty/organ pairs remain with the last two verbs unexpressed. Felt in is the contextual English relation for se fait sentir au, not a claim that the organs independently think or feel.

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.