Lamettrie

(Julian Offray de). French physician and philosopher, b. St. Malo, 25 Dec. 1709. Destined for the Church, he was educated under the Jesuits at Caen. He, however, became a physician, studying under Boerhaave, at Leyden. Returning to France, he became surgeon to the French Guard, and served at the battles of Fontenoy and Dettingen. Falling ill, he noticed that his faculties fluctuated with his physical state, and drew therefrom materialistic conclusions. The boldne with which he made his ideas known lost him his place, and he took refuge in Holland. Here he published The Natural History of the Soul , under the pretence of its being a translation from the English of Charp [Sharp], 1745. This was followed by Man a Machine (1748), a work which was publicly burnt at Leyden, and orders given for the author’s arrest. It was translated into English, and reached a second edition (London, 1750). It was often attributed to D’Argens. Lamettrie held that the senses are the only avenues to knowledge, and that it is absurd to a ume a god to explain motion. Only under Atheism will religious strife cease. Lamettrie found an asylum with Frederick the Great, to whom he became physician and reader (Feb. 1748). Here he published Philosophical Reflections on the Origin of Animals (1750), translated Seneca on Happine , etc. He died 11 Nov. 1751, and desired by his will to be buried in the garden of Lord Tyrconnel. The great king thought so well of him that he composed his funeral eulogy.