Man a Machine

La Mettrie, Julien Offray de, 1709-1751

About this book

"Man a Machine" by Julien Offray de La Mettrie is a work of materialist philosophy first published in 1747. Extending Descartes' view of animals as automatons, La Mettrie argues that humans are also machines. He rejects the existence of a soul separate from matter, demonstrating how physical conditions—sleep, nutrition, drugs—directly affect what we call the mind. This controversial work denies dualism and proposes that body and soul are inseparably one.

Notes

Wikipedia page about this book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_a_Machine

Author
La Mettrie, Julien Offray de, 1709-1751
Reading level
B1 · Intermediate
Language
English