1. people who believe that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical and chemical processes without reference to vital forces or purposes
Usage: philosophy; science
2. people skilled in mechanics or the operation of machines

Examples

• The mechanists argued that consciousness could be reduced to brain chemistry.
• Early mechanists like Descartes viewed the body as a complex machine.
• Modern mechanists reject the idea of a life force separate from physical processes.
• The factory employed several mechanists to maintain the automated equipment.
• These mechanists could repair any type of industrial machinery.
• The debate between mechanists and vitalists shaped 19th-century biology.