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Julien Offray de La Mettrie

French physician and philosopher · France · Doctors · Lived 1709 to 1751 · aged 41

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He wrote that humans are machines without souls - complex animals running on meat and nerve - and the backlash forced him out of France entirely.

AcademicsAcademicPhilosophyMedicineLiteratureFranceEuropeEarly Modern Era

A life in dates

1751Died11 November 17511747“I reduce to two the systems of philosophy which deal with man's soul. The first and older system is materialism; the second is spiritualism.”In their wordsL'homme Machine Tr. Gertrude Carman Bussey (1912) unless otherwise indicated. See also Paul Carus, "La Mettrie's View of Man as a Machine,"

1745“The ancients, persuaded that there is no body without a moving force, regarded the substance of bodies as composed of two primitive attributes.”In their wordsCh. V Concerning the Moving Force of Matter

“The Christian Scholastics... might have shown that God Himself said that He had "imprinted an active principle in the elements of matter (Gen. i; Is. lxvi).”In their wordsCh. V Concerning the Moving Force of Matter

“We know in bodies only matter, and we observe the faculty of feeling only in bodies: on what foundation then can we erect an ideal being, disowned by all our knowledge?”In their wordsCh. VI Concerning the Sensitive Faculty of Matter

“Ancient philosophy will always hold its own among those who are worthy to judge it, because it forms...”In their wordsCh. VI Concerning the Sensitive Faculty of Matter

1734“A good prescription is still more profitable than an .”In their words(c. 1734) in a successful argument to persuade his father that a medical education was preferred. As quoted by , History of Materialism and

1709Born12 December 1709

Also in Deutsch

Photos 6

Portrait de Julien Offray de La MettriePortrait de Julien Offray de La MettrieJulien Offray de La Mettrie aJulien Offray de La Mettrie aJulien Offray de La MettrieJulien Offray de La MettrieOffray de La MettrieOffray de La MettriePortret van Julien Offray de la Mettrie, RP-P-1910-6682Portret van Julien Offray de la Mettrie, RP-P-1910-6682Portret van Julien Offray de La Mettrie, RP-P-OB-54.087Portret van Julien Offray de La Mettrie, RP-P-OB-54.087

In their own words 10

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Julien Offray de La Mettrie
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10 statements, newest first

  1. It is not enough for a wise man to study nature and truth; he should dare state truth for the benefit of the few who are willing and able to think.

    1747, L'homme Machine Tr. Gertrude Carman Bussey (1912) unless otherwise indicated. See also Paul Carus, "La Mettrie's View of Man as a Machine,", Own words

  2. I reduce to two the systems of philosophy which deal with man's soul. The first and older system is materialism; the second is spiritualism.

    1747, L'homme Machine Tr. Gertrude Carman Bussey (1912) unless otherwise indicated. See also Paul Carus, "La Mettrie's View of Man as a Machine,", Own words

  3. Before Descartes, some of the ancients made the essence of matter consist in solid extension.

    1745, Ch. III Concerning the Extension of Matter, Own words

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About this person

Julien Offray de La Mettrie was a French physician and philosopher who pushed Enlightenment materialism past the line polite society would tolerate. In 1747 he published L'homme machine, arguing that the mind is simply part of the body, that humans possess no immortal soul distinguishing them from other animals, and that life's proper aim is pleasure. The position made him one of the earliest French materialists and one of the most controversial: he had to flee France and settle in Berlin, where he died in 1751 at forty-one.

Country
France
Category
Doctors
Type
Doctor
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1709 to 1751 · aged 41

Doctors from France 6

Franz Joseph Gall55.8Claude Louis Berthollet55.6André Frédéric Cournand56.1Françoise Dolto55.5Jean-Martin Charcot56.1René Laennec55.1

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