Man a Machine by Julien Offray de La Mettrie
"Man a Machine" by Julien Offray de La Mettrie is a philosophical treatise written in the mid-18th century. This work explores the nature of humanity from a materialistic perspective, positing that humans are essentially machines governed by physical laws. La Mettrie critiques traditional metaphysical views of the soul, advocating instead for an understanding of human experience through the lens of anatomy and physiology. The opening of the book provides a preface thatcontextualizes La Mettrie's philosophical journey, detailing his background as a physician and philosopher who argued for materialism against prevailing spiritualist ideas. It highlights La Mettrie's influential concepts, particularly his assertion that understanding the body's mechanics can explain various aspects of human thought and behavior. He uses examples from medicine and physiology to illustrate how disturbances in the body affect the mind, setting the stage for a deeper exploration of the relationship between body and mind throughout the text. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | La Mettrie, Julien Offray de, 1709-1751 |
|---|---|
| Contributor | Frederick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786 |
| Editor | Calkins, Mary Whiton, 1863-1930 |
| Translator | Bussey, Gertrude Carman, 1888-1961 |
| LoC No. | 13004432 |
| Title | Man a Machine |
| Note | Reading ease score: 64.3 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. |
| Note | Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_a_Machine |
| Credits | Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | B: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion |
| Subject | Materialism |
| Subject | Mind and body |
| Subject | Physiology -- Early works to 1800 |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 52090 |
| Release Date | May 16, 2016 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 934 downloads in the last 30 days. |
| Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free! | |
