From the book
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II
Joseph Joubert · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordNaturel can name an artistic naturalness, a disposition or the substantive “natural.” Its value depends on the kind of nature expressed; it does not invariably praise the first, easiest or least cultivated expression.
- In JoubertThe Sévigné note accepts a naturalness made for oneself but adds that one can make it beautifully only if one already has it.
- In this editionThe English translation varies naturalness, natural disposition and the natural with the context.
- A place to beginMade naturalness still presupposes a natural capacity.
- English renderings
- naturalness; natural disposition; the natural
Meaning
Naturel can name an artistic naturalness, a disposition or the substantive “natural.” Its value depends on the kind of nature expressed; it does not invariably praise the first, easiest or least cultivated expression.
Use in the book
The Sévigné note accepts a naturalness made for oneself but adds that one can make it beautifully only if one already has it. Another note asks which natural disposition is intended—ingenious, literary or learned—rather than assuming a single untrained nature. In the arts, sincerity distinguishes natural expression from affectation: the same gestures may be genuine in one person and affected in another. The sharp judgment on Fénelon consequently calls an apparent excess of gentleness “affected naturalness.” A later contrast between vulgar and exquisite natural defines it through conformity to essence and separates nature from habit. What appears first does not by that fact become what is best.
Places to read
- II, p. 550, entry 1, ¶1Made naturalness still presupposes a natural capacity.
- II, p. 631, entry 2, ¶1Several kinds of natural disposition are distinguished.
- II, p. 641, entry 9, ¶2Natural expression is tied to sincerity rather than fixed gestures.
- II, p. 817, entry 1, ¶1Fénelon exemplifies an accusation of affected naturalness.
- II, p. 912, entry begun p. 911, no. 11, ¶2The natural is distinguished from habit and mere priority.
Translation in this edition
The English translation varies naturalness, natural disposition and the natural with the context. The repetition within each passage remains deliberate. The paradox of making what one already has is preserved; the Fénelon judgment remains Joubert’s literary assessment rather than a diagnosis of the author’s private character.
Source note
Beaunier 1938, II, pp. 550, 631, 641, 817, 912.