IRRATIONAL MAN: A Study in Philosophy

by William Barrett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 4, 1958

William Barrett has already published articles and short books on existentialism and stands as its chief explicator in this country, and this is his most comprehensive work on the subject. Briefly, Barrett's thesis is that existentialism, as expressed primarily in Kierkegaard, Jaspers, Heidegger, Nietzache and Sartre (he includes others) antecedes the predominantly intellectual contribution of Greek thought on which much of Christianity was based, and goes back to the Hebraic ""man of faith"". Plato and Aristotle, indeed St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, were ""essentialists"", their philosophy gave birth to protestantism, to science and above all to a power over things. But to the existentialists, as to Job, the crucial matter is faith. Commitment and the irrational are opposed to the intellectual, organizational and technical. Barrett is very clever and clear in following the thread of this philosophy down through the ages. But he is perhaps at his best in the chapters in which he describes the individual contributions of such men as Kirkegaard, Nietzache and Heidegger. He brings to the subject both definition and interpretation and it is an excellent work within its specific sphere.

Pub Date: Sept. 4, 1958

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday-Anchor

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1958

Categories: NONFICTION