in oars plak

Classic works of philosophy are endlessly surprising. Hobbes begins Leviathan by likening the human body to a machine:

For what is the Heart, but a Spring; and the Nerves, but so many Strings; and the Joynts; but so many Wheeles...

Descartes too discusses the mechanics of the body and how blood flows through it, at length in his writing. 

I always enjoy these diversions and detours because they reflect the profound difference in worldview between the modern world and previous periods in history.