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Article: La Mettrie, Julien Offroy De (1709–1751)
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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LA METTRIE, JULIEN OFFROY DE (1709
–
1751)
LA METTRIE, JULIEN OFFROY DE
(1709
–
1751), French physician and philosopher. Julien Offroy de La Mettrie is best known for his work of materialist philosophy,
L'homme-machine
(1747). His philosophical works were written early in the French Enlightenment but are among some of the most radical works of that period.
La Mettrie was born in Saint-Malo in Brittany on 19 December 1751, the son of a textile merchant wealthy enough to give him a good education. He attended several provincial colleges, where he was influenced by Jansenism. In 1725 he enrolled in the College d'Harcourt, the first academic institution to make Cartesianism ...