Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy - Softcover

Barrett, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0385031386 ISBN 13: 9780385031387

Publisher: Anchor, 1990

Synopsis

Widely recognized as the finest definition of existentialist philosophy ever written, this book introduced existentialism to America in 1958. Barrett speaks eloquently and directly to concerns of the 1990s: a period when the irrational and the absurd are no better integrated than before and when humankind is in even greater danger of destroying its existence without ever understanding the meaning of its existence.

Irrational Man begins by discussing the roots of existentialism in the art and thinking of Augustine, Aquinas, Pascal, Baudelaire, Blake, Dostoevski, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Picasso, Joyce, and Beckett. The heart of the book explains the views of the foremost existentialists—Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre. The result is a marvelously lucid definition of existentialism and a brilliant interpretation of its impact.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Widely recognized as the finest definition of existentialist Philosophy, this book introduced existentialism to America in 1958. Barrett discusses the views of 19th and 20th century existentialists Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre and interprets the impact of their thinking on literature, art, and philosophy.

About the Author:

William Barrett is widely known as one of the first philosophers to introduce existentialism to America. Besides a long and distinguished career as a professor of philosophy, he was editor of Partisan Review and the literary critic for Atlantic Monthly. Barrett authored The Illusion of Technique and The Truants, among other books. He died in 1992, at the age of 78.

About this edition

• Publisher: Anchor
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0385031386
• ISBN 13: 9780385031387
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 314