Merit

Use in the book

The historian’s merit must be added to that of history, just as the worker adds something to the material. This does not dissolve subject matter into execution or execution into a worthy subject. Art is itself called a merit when naturalness is absent: accuracy achieved through art still deserves recognition. Yet visible success is an inadequate measure, because talent may lack the strength to make beautiful works. The distinction between earlier writers’ beauty and later writers’ compression likewise shows that different achievements can earn praise under different descriptions.

Places to read

1. II, p. 778, entry 5, ¶1Material and maker have distinct merits.
2. II, p. 865, entry 10, ¶1Art can be a merit even without naturalness.
3. II, p. 690, entry 10, ¶1Talent without the strength to produce is missed by judges of success alone.
4. II, p. 733, entry 9, ¶1Beauty and verbal compression receive different historical valuations.

Translation in this edition

The English translation keeps repeated merit and distinguishes talent from strength. The unnamed subject in the unrealized-talent fragment is not identified as Joubert. Justesse in the art fragment becomes accuracy, not moral justice. Moral desert and reward are related uses, but this article’s witnesses concern literary valuation.