La Mettrie, J. O. de

Basic Biographical Information

Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709–1751) was born on December 25, 1709 in Saint-Malo, a city in Brittany along the English Channel whose inhabitants championed independence. In fact, in the last decade of the fifteenth century, Saint-Malo attempted to establish itself as an independent republic. They adopted the motto, “not French, not Breton, but Malouins.” La Mettrie’s independent-mindedness represented well the reputation of the city of his birth. His father’s successful merchant business made a good education possible for the young La Mettrie. At the age of 15, he wrote in support of Jansenism, a heretical theology formulated during the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation. In 1725, he entered the College d’Harcourt, which pioneered a Cartesian curriculum of philosophy and natural science. After 5 years studying medicine at the University of Paris, he avoided the steep graduation fees there by finishing...