From the book
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II
Joseph Joubert · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordMathematics works with quantities, figures, or relations abstracted from material particulars.
- In JoubertMathematics is called half-metaphysics because it operates on conceived relations rather than imagined substances.
- In this editionThe English translation retains “half-metaphysics” and “shadows,” without substituting a current foundational account of mathematics.
- A place to beginRelations distinguish mathematics from the metaphysics of substances.
- English renderings
- mathematics; geometry
Meaning
Mathematics works with quantities, figures, or relations abstracted from material particulars. Joubert’s comparisons often place it between physical images and more remote abstractions.
Use in the book
Mathematics is called half-metaphysics because it operates on conceived relations rather than imagined substances. Elsewhere its figures are shadows of realities: line, point, and circle retain their relations to thread, tip, and hoop. Geometry can justifiably use abstract terms that would spoil other styles, since they are fitting and clear in their own domain. The letter O need only suggest a circle, whereas the mathematical figure demands perfection. The difference concerns purpose and exactness, not a simple preference for concrete over abstract language.
Places to read
- I, p. 441, entry 9, ¶1Relations distinguish mathematics from the metaphysics of substances.
- I, p. 242, entry 8, ¶1Geometrical figures are described as shadows of realities.
- II, p. 656, entry 1, ¶1Abstract vocabulary belongs appropriately to geometry.
- II, p. 914–915, entry 7, ¶3A letter’s indicated figure differs from mathematical exactness.
Translation in this edition
The English translation retains “half-metaphysics” and “shadows,” without substituting a current foundational account of mathematics. Geometry remains explicitly named rather than swallowed into a generic idea of abstraction.
Source note
Beaunier 1938, I, pp. 242, 441; II, pp. 656, 914, 915.