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 wordMéthode is a way of proceeding or retracing thought; it need not be a universally valid sequence of straight steps.
- In JoubertAriadne’s thread follows the thinker and becomes useful on the return.
- In this editionThe English translation preserves the reversed following relation and “go back up.” Science retains its broad sense of organized knowledge.
- A place to beginThe thread follows us and is useful on the return.
- English renderings
- method
Meaning
Méthode is a way of proceeding or retracing thought; it need not be a universally valid sequence of straight steps.
Use in the book
Ariadne’s thread follows the thinker and becomes useful on the return. The reversal is the point: method can retrace discovery without mechanically generating it. The comparison of Platonic circuits and modern straight lines likewise denies that rectilinear procedure is inherently more methodical. Another note requires method to partake of the nature of its science, contrasting the mind needed for metaphysics with the sense needed for physics. Taken together, these passages caution against importing one procedure into every field, while leaving room for disciplined explanation suited to its object.
Places to read
- I, p. 280, entry 9, ¶1The thread follows us and is useful on the return.
- II, p. 592–593, entry 11, ¶1A circuit is not less methodical simply because it is indirect.
- II, p. 747, entry 7, ¶1Method must fit the nature of the science.
Translation in this edition
The English translation preserves the reversed following relation and “go back up.” Science retains its broad sense of organized knowledge. The first [much] on II.747 qualifies damaged beaucoup; the second much is intact.
Source note
Beaunier 1938, I, pp. 280; II, pp. 592, 593, 747.