The fundamental philosophical postulate of modern medicine is that the body and its function can be understood in terms of physical chemistry, that living organisms are physico-chemical machines and the ideal of the physician is to become an engineer of the body.

What are by common consent called the human sciences have their own drama […] The only possibility of regaining one's balance is to face the whole problem, for all these discoveries, all these inquiries lead only in one direction: to make man admit that he is nothing, absolutely nothing – and that he must put an end to the narcissism on which he relies in order to imagine that he is different from the other “animals.” […] I grasp my narcissism with both hands and I turn my back on the degradation of those who would make man a mere [machine]. […] And truly what is to be done is to set man free.

All in all, scientific knowledge counts, measures, classifies and kills. But it is not enough to say that scientific knowledge is summary. We must add that it is impoverished and half-starved. To acquire it, mankind has sacrificed everything: desires, fears, feelings, psychological complexes. To acquire the impersonality of scientific knowledge mankind depersonalized itself, deprived itself of individuality. An impoverished knowledge, I say, for at its inception – whatever may be its riches beside – stands an impoverished humanity.