Single Idea 7652

[catalogued under 17. Mind and Body / E. Mind as Physical / 1. Physical Mind]

Full Idea

Let us conclude boldly that man is a machine and that there is in the whole universe only one diversely modified substance.

Gist of Idea

Man is a machine, and there exists only one substance, diversely modified

Source

Julien Offray de La Mettrie (Machine Man [1747], p.39)

Book Reference

La Mettrie,Julien Offray de: 'Machine Man and Other Writings', ed/tr. Thomson,Ann [CUP 1996], p.39


A Reaction

What courage it must have taken to write what now seems a perfectly acceptable and normal view. One day there should be a collective monument to Hobbes, Gassendi, Spinoza, La Mettrie and Hume, who thought so boldly.