Mechanistic Materialism and Human Cognition: The Modern Relevance of La Mettrie's L'Homme Machine

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La Mettrie’s L'Homme Machine (1748) remains a provocative milestone in the history of materialist thought. Its modern relevance lies in three areas:

1. Neuroscience Foundations: By reducing consciousness to brain mechanics, it anticipated contemporary debates on AI and artificial consciousness;
2. Anti-Dogma Advocacy: Its rejection of “soul dualism” parallels modern critiques of pseudoscience and religious authority;
3. Self-Critical Methodology: The anonymous rebuttal L'Homme Non-Machine (likely authored by La Mettrie himself) exemplifies scientific humility.
   For instance, CRISPR gene-editing and neural implants today validate La Mettrie’s vision of humans as “biological machines,” yet quantum physics challenges his deterministic worldview. The text urges modern thinkers to embrace materialism without dogmatism, recognizing that the pursuit of truth requires both radical hypotheses and empirical rigor.