Primary sources-
La Mettre, Julien. (1747). L’Homme-machine. Paris
https://www.enotes.com/topics/man-machine#in-depth-context
In this article, La Mettrie wants to express that animals and humans do not have a significant difference in souls, which is contradictory towards Descartes. In this declaration, he thinks that animals can think and feel, too. With all of these factors and doctrines, L’Homme-machine explains the view of mechanism and materialism.
Discours sur le bonheur ou l’anti-Sénèque, extremely important to mention, but it’s inside the main L’Homme-machine.
Bergmann, Ernst. (1913). The Significance of La Mettrie and Pertinent Material. The Open Court. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2764&context=ocj
Bergmann provides an introduction to La Mettrie’s work and the impact it has on society. The article begins with a dedication to La Mettrie. After he delves into La Mettrie’s mechanistic theory, controversies, personality, and dedication to Haller, his “main antagonist”.
Fossati, WJ. (2003). Maximum Influence from Minimum Abilities: La Mettrie and Radical Materialism. The Review of Metaphysics. https://maritain.nd.edu/ama/Sweetman/Sweetman04.pdf
In this article by Fossati, La Mettrie is introduced in terms of his role in the philosophical community and how he began writing about the human body and mental processes. He discusses how Descartes was the first philosopher to enter this field in comparing animals to machines, which La Mettrie most strongly emphasizes in his theories. Finally, the article provides a timeline of La Mettrie contributions and struggles as he navigates controversial thought during the French Enlightenment.
Thomson, A. Machine Man and Other Writings. Cambridge University Press, 1996). https://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam034/95014609.pdf
This paper written by Anne Thomson starts with background information of La Mettrie and his interactions with other philosophers of his time. Included is a chronology of La Mettrie, detailing his interactions with society as a result of contentious theories. Lastly, there are brief summaries of his main works such as Machine Man, Preliminary Discourse, Treatise on the Soul, Man as Plant, The System of Epicurus, and Anti-Seneca or the Sovereign Good.