Single Idea 7650

[catalogued under 18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 5. Rationality / a. Rationality]

Full Idea

Thought is only a capacity to feel, and the rational soul is only the sensitive soul applied to the contemplation of ideas and to reasoning.

Gist of Idea

All thought is feeling, and rationality is the sensitive soul contemplating reasoning

Source

Julien Offray de La Mettrie (Machine Man [1747], p.33)

Book Reference

La Mettrie,Julien Offray de: 'Machine Man and Other Writings', ed/tr. Thomson,Ann [CUP 1996], p.33


A Reaction

What a very nice idea. La Mettrie wants to bring us closer to animals. Because we can pursue a train of rational thought, it does not follow that we have a faculty called 'rationality'. A dog can follow a clever series of clues that lead to food.