Man a Machine

by Offray, Julian

• ISBN13: 9780875480411
• ISBN10: 0875480411
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-11-01
• Publisher: Lightning Source Inc

Summary

Julien Offray de La Mettrie 1709-1751) is the first modern materialist. His Man a Machine is a passionate, popular presentation of materialism and atheism, more provocative than any earlier work. One of the leading physicians of his time, La Mettrie draws heavily on his medical knowledge to argue that the human organism is subject to cause-and-effect processes, and that soul and body are not separate. He uses the effects of drugs, disease, food, and climate to show that consciousness is governed by physical causes, but he does not dispute the existence of consciousness, nor does he claim that mental processes are identical with physiological ones. Emphasizing the similarity between apes and humans, La Mettrie speculates that one day an ape might be made to learn a language. This edition contains the full text of L'Homme Machine (in English and the original French), Frederick the Great's 'Eulogy' on La Mettrie, extracts from La Mettrie's Natural History of the Soul, and full background notes. Book jacket.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. v
Frederic the Great's Eulogy on Julien Offray De La Mettrie	p. 1
L'Homme Machine	p. 11
Man a Machine	p. 83
The Natural History of the Soul: Extracts	p. 151
Appendix	p. 163
La Mettrie's Relation to His Predecessors and to His Successors	p. 165
Outline of La Mettrie's Metaphysical Doctrine	p. 175
Notes	p. 176
Works Consulted and Cited in the Notes	p. 205
Index	p. 209
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