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