Quotes from book
Man a Machine

Name: Man a Machine
Author: Julien Offray de La Mettrie

Julien Offray de La MettrieOriginal title L'Homme Machine (French)

Man a Machine is a work of materialist philosophy by the 18th-century French physician and philosopher Julien Offray de La Mettrie, first published in 1747. In this work, de La Mettrie extends Descartes' argument that animals are mere automatons, or machines, to human beings. He denies existence of the soul as a substance separate from matter:

“As a violin string or a harpsichord key vibrates and gives forth sound, so the cerebral fibres, struck by waves of sound, are stimulated to render or repeat the words that strike them.”

Julien Offray de La Mettrie book Man a Machine

p, 125
Man a Machine (1747)

“The mind, like the body, has its contagious diseases and its scurvy. …[W]e catch everything from those with whom we come in contact; their gestures, their accent, etc.”

Julien Offray de La Mettrie book Man a Machine

Man a Machine (1747)

“The human body is a machine which winds its own springs.”

Julien Offray de La Mettrie book Man a Machine

Man a Machine (1747)

“Whatever the virtue may be, from whatever source it may come, it is worthy of esteem… Mind, beauty, wealth, nobility, although the children of chance, all have their own value, as skill, learning and virtue have theirs.”

Julien Offray de La Mettrie book Man a Machine

p, 125
Man a Machine (1747)

“[E]ither everything is illusion, nature as well as revelation, or experience alone can explain faith.”

Julien Offray de La Mettrie book Man a Machine

p, 125
Man a Machine (1747)

“[I]magination is the soul, since it plays all the roles of the soul.”

Julien Offray de La Mettrie book Man a Machine

p, 125
Man a Machine (1747)

“Let us… take in our hands the staff of experience… To be blind and to think that one can do without this staff is the worst kind of blindness.”

Julien Offray de La Mettrie book Man a Machine

Man a Machine (1747), p. 89

“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.”

Julien Offray de La Mettrie book Man a Machine

Man a Machine (1747), p. 85

“Among animals, some learn to speak and sing; they remember tunes, and strike the notes as exactly as a musician. Others, for instance the ape, show more intelligence… would it be absolutely impossible to teach the ape a language? I do not think so.”

Julien Offray de La Mettrie book Man a Machine

Man a Machine (1747)
Context: Among animals, some learn to speak and sing; they remember tunes, and strike the notes as exactly as a musician. Others, for instance the ape, show more intelligence... would it be absolutely impossible to teach the ape a language? I do not think so.<!--pp.100-102