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 wordMouvement ranges from change of place to an impulse, mental activity, and a movement of eloquence.
- In JoubertTime is pictured through movement over space and then measured by the pulse.
- In this editionThe English translation keeps “movement” in the passages cited here.
- A place to beginSpatial movement and the pulse supply images of time.
- English renderings
- movement
Meaning
Mouvement ranges from change of place to an impulse, mental activity, and a movement of eloquence. Shared vocabulary does not mean that all these are instances of one mechanical account.
Use in the book
Time is pictured through movement over space and then measured by the pulse. The criticism of Descartes’ demand for matter and movement treats the supposed starting materials as already containing everything that needs explaining. Mental movement may merely make one active and inclined to write, while light and happiness make one meditative. An account of oratory even values avoiding its characteristic movements. The word can therefore signify activity without insight, and eloquence without automatic approval.
Places to read
- I, p. 457, entry 3, ¶3Spatial movement and the pulse supply images of time.
- I, p. 473, entry 3, ¶1Matter and movement are criticized as insufficiently explained assumptions.
- II, p. 477, entry 7, ¶1Movement activates the mind but differs from illumination.
- II, p. 645, entry 2, ¶1Movements of eloquence can need restraint.
Translation in this edition
The English translation keeps “movement” in the passages cited here. The lexical family includes printed mouvemens as well as modern mouvements. Compare Rest for the different rendering “motion” in the attributed Euler statement.
Source note
Beaunier 1938, I, pp. 457, 473; II, pp. 477, 645. Related movement material at I.237–238 is inserted from a separate exercise book. Beaunier suggests a debt to abbé Nollet, explicitly leaves its extent undetermined, and reports omitted passages. This is a source-provenance qualification, not a statement that the passage is in another person’s handwriting.