thumb|Joseph Joubert

Joseph Joubert (; 6 May 1754 in Montignac, Périgord – 4 May 1824 in Paris) was a French moralist and essayist, remembered today largely for his Pensées (Thoughts), which were published posthumously.

Biography

From the age of fourteen Joubert attended a religious college in Toulouse, where he later taught until 1776. In 1778 he went to Paris where he met D'Alembert and Diderot, amongst others, and later became a friend of a young writer and diplomat, Chateaubriand.

He alternated between living in Paris with his friends and life in the privacy of the countryside in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne. He was appointed inspector-general of universities under Napoleon.

Joubert published nothing during his lifetime, but he wrote a copious number of letters and filled sheets of paper and small notebooks with thoughts about the nature of human existence, literature, Christianity and spiritual life, and other topics, in a poignant, often aphoristic style. After his death his widow entrusted Chateaubriand with these notes, and in 1838, he published a selection titled, Recueil des pensées de M. Joubert A later English translation version was made by Paul Auster.

Matthew Arnold in his Critical Essays devotes a section to Joubert.

Principal editions

  • Recueil des pensées de M. Joubert, published by Chateaubriand, Le Normant, Paris, 1838. Text online
  • Pensées, essais, maximes et correspondance de J. Joubert, preface by Paul Raynal, Le Normant, Paris, 1850 ; 1861.
  • Pensées, introduction and noted by Victor Giraud, Bloud, Paris, 1909
  • Carnets, texts collected by André Beaunier, Gallimard, Paris, 1938 ; 1994
  • Correspondance de Louis de Fontanes et de Joseph Joubert : (1785-1819), Plon, Paris, 1943
  • Pensées et Lettres, organized by Raymond Dumay and Maurice Andrieux, Grasset, 1954
  • Pensées, selected texts presented by Raymond Dumay, Club français du livre, 1954
  • Essais : 1779-1821, complete critical version by Rémy Tessonneau, A.G. Nizet, Paris, 1983

References

  • Joubert's works at Bibliothèque nationale de France (in French)
  • Review of translations by Paul Auster
  • English translations of Joubert's works at Internet Archive