Irrational Man subtitled "A Study In Existential Philosophy" is an influential book by William Barrett

William Barrett (philosopher)

William Christopher Barrett was a professor of philosophy at New York University from 1950 to 1979. Precociously, he began post-secondary studies at the City College of New York when 15 years old. He received his PhD at Columbia University. He was an editor of Partisan Review and later the...

 published in 1958 which served to introduce existentialism

Existentialism

Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...

 to the English speaking world. His writing style is conversational, and he takes time to define terms and give the reader background on philosophical terms and concepts, so this book is aimed at a general reader curious about the topic.

The need for a native English speaker to write a text on existentialist philosophy was paramount for its understanding, since most of the primary philosophers in this movement were not native English speakers. While Kierkegaard's works had been translated several decades earlier, the full impact of existential philosophy had not yet been felt in the English speaking world when this book was produced. Being and Nothingness had been available in English for only a couple of years, Kaufmann's Thus Spoke Zarathustra translation had been out only a few more, and Being and Time

Being and Time

Being and Time is a book by the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. Although written quickly, and despite the fact that Heidegger never completed the project outlined in the introduction, it remains his most important work and has profoundly influenced 20th-century philosophy, particularly...

had not yet been translated into English.

Organization of the book

In the four parts of the book, Barrett explains in brief the philosophical tradition to which existentialism was a reaction, and then the main concepts of existential thought.

Part one – "The Present Age"

This part shows the impact that existentialism has had on culture even without being a widely known philosophical school of thought.

Part two – Sources of Existentialism

This part traces the development of philosophy (and is a good overview of the subject) as it pertains to being, ontology, and metaphysics. This serves to show the contrast between existentialist thought and other forms of philosophy.

Part three – The Existentialists

The four main philosophical thinkers are introduced, along with their primary thoughts and terminology.

1. Kierkegaard
2. Nietzsche
3. Heidegger
4. Sartre

The discussion of each philosopher serves as a road map for those seeking an entre into the primary works of each, which can be dense with unique terminology. (Particularly Heidegger and Sarte.) The material in each of these four sections summarizes the main points each philosopher contributed to existentialism. The reactions of one philosopher to another is also explored. (Again, particularly Heidegger and Sartre.) The philosophers are also situated in the larger history of philosophical investigations outside of existentialism itself.

Barrett concentrates on these main philosophers and avoids an in-depth discussion (although he does mention some) of the many of the existentialist artists, writers, etc.

Part four – Integral vs Rational Man

This last, short part applies existentialist thought to the world of the late 1950s, during the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

.

Appendices

1. Appendix one is "Negation, Finitude, and the Nature of Man" which was a paper presented by the author in 1957.

1. Appendix two is a discussion of existentialism and analytic philosophy. (This is not for the general reader.)