Machine can be defined as a system of interrelated parts working together to perform certain functions. The key words used to define the term are system, interrelation, and function; all of which describes the construction of machine. In terms of the physiological structure, the human body is indeed a system; it certainly is interrelated, with different body parts; and the body obviously carries out functions and work. So then, it seems only logical to assume that humans are constructed like machines and therefore can be viewed as machines.

Without going into details, this concept can be easily challenged by the fact that it neglects the more complex aspect of the human, known as “the soul”, which supposedly distinguishes the humans from all other known matter. However, the famous physician La Mettrie once noted in his writing, The Machine Man, that:

“…since all the soul’s faculties depend so much on the specific organization of the brain and of the whole body that they are clearly nothing but that very organization, the machine is perfectly explained! For after all even if man alone had received the law of nature as his heritage, would he be any less of a machine? Some wheels, a few springs more than in the most perfect animals, the brain proportionately closer to the heart and thus receiving more blood…” (26)

In the very first line of this passage, La Mettrie pointed out in that “the soul… depend on the brain”, meaning it is a mere creation, a concept that the human brain produced. Therefore, the soul in this case does not exist, for it is nothing more than a product of thought and imagination, which is regulated by the brain, an organ within the human body. Besides the brain, the rest of the body such as arms, legs, mouth, etc…, which are parts that allow humans to carry out certain actions and performances, also plays a major role in forming the soul. For example, if a man, on a regular basis, beats up other men for no valid reason other than pure aggression, then this man is thought to be a mean and violent character, and is judged as someone with an evil soul. Thus, the soul can be traced back to simple physical matter.

With that in mind, further exploration of the human body in details will only reveals yet more convincing resemblance between the physiology of a human and a machine. For once, based on the original definition, the human is a machine because it is, first and foremost, a system. In the passage above, La Mettrie recognize our body by its “organization”, the structure of our body, which allows us to perform all kinds of work. Indeed, our body is a very highly organized structure with sub-systems such as the digestive system, the nervous system, the cardiovascular system, etc…, each with its own job but their main objective is to all work together to sustain the entire body.

The body, being so complex and organized, is maintained through the interrelated works of different body parts. La Mettrie, interestingly, refers to the human body structure as being made up of nothing more than “wheels” and “springs”. Normally, people often use personification in their writings; but La Mettrie’s particular usage of language has, instead of personify a machine, mechanize a person. For the purpose of this argument, La Mettrie made an excellent point regarding the construction of our bodies; our internal and external organs operate in very much the same way that the wheels and springs do in a metallic machine. For instance, humans obtain energy from food, which are then broken down to nutrients and enter the bloodstream which runs throughout the body to fuel movements. This is very much like oil or electricity that is used to power a mechanical device. Our internal organs such as the lung, which provides oxygen for muscular motion, can be compared to the springs which winds up the wheels in a clock. In other words, the body is like a mini-factory, which is powered by food, and operated by interrelated biological cells.