Julien Offray de La Mettrie

Gödel, Escher, Bach

Introduction: A Musico-Logical Offering

hedonism

La Mettrie’s hedonistic and materialistic principles caused outrage even in the relatively tolerant Netherlands. So strong was the feeling against him that in 1748 he was compelled to leave for Berlin, where, thanks in part to the offices of Maupertuis, the Prussian king Frederick the Great not only allowed him to practice as a physician, but appointed him court reader.

notable works

Man a Machine

random

At the northern most reach of Whatcom County’s shoreline is a spit approximately 2000 meters long trending northeasterly from the north side of Birch Point (fig.2.). The spit separates Drayton Harbor from Semiahmoo Bay and provides some protection for small boats and shoreline developments within the bay.

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Man a Machine by Julien Offray de La Mettrie (gutenberg.org) MAN A MACHINE BY Julien Offray de la Mettrie INCLUDING FREDERICK THE GREAT’S “EULOGY” ON LA METTRIE AND EXTRACTS FROM LA METTRIE’S “THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SOUL”

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wikipedia

Julien Offray de La Mettrie (Wikipedia) Julien Offray de La Mettrie (French: [ɔfʁɛ də la metʁi]; November 23, 1709 – November 11, 1751) was a French physician and philosopher, and one of the earliest of the French materialists of the Enlightenment. He is best known for his 1747 work L’homme machine (Man a Machine).