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 wordClassique is explicitly tested through teachability and exemplary value.
- In JoubertJoubert considers a reported comparison between the styles of Maintenon and Sévigné.
- In this editionThe English translation retains classical and the classical, along with the change from or to and.
- A place to beginTeachability and the obligation to teach supply two distinct tests.
- English renderings
- classical; the classical
Meaning
Classique is explicitly tested through teachability and exemplary value. In this witness it does not simply designate ancient Greek or Roman writing.
Use in the book
Joubert considers a reported comparison between the styles of Maintenon and Sévigné. If classical means correct and methodical, he accepts the first style’s greater claim, because it can be learned and taught. He rejects the inference that it is therefore more natural. The definition then divides: what can be taught, and what ought to be taught. Transmissibility and irreproachability are two qualities, not interchangeable descriptions. The final sentence says the latter does not always admit the former. A work may therefore merit teaching without its excellence necessarily being transferable as a method.
Places to read
- II, p. 560–561, entry 10, ¶1Teachability and the obligation to teach supply two distinct tests.
Translation in this edition
The English translation retains classical and the classical, along with the change from or to and. The conditional if, the opening source ellipsis and the break after more natural remain. This compact argument is not converted into a comprehensive canon or a historical definition applying to every use of the word.
Source note
Beaunier 1938, II, pp. 560, 561.