Abstract

This passage, from the brief exposition of Spinoza’s philosophy provided by La Mettrie in the Abrégé des systèmes, sums up various questions about his philosophy that I wish to raise in this article. I shall look at some of the main aspects of La Mettrie’s materialism that have presented problems since he published his works, and which have, to a large extent, accounted for, at best, the suspicion and, at worst, the revulsion that they have aroused from all shades of opinion.