William Barrett (philosopher)

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William Barrett (1913-1992) was a professor of philosophy at New York University. He received his PhD at Columbia University. He was an editor of Partisan Review and later the literary critic of The Atlantic Monthly magazine. He is well-known for writing philosophical works for nonexperts. Perhaps the best known among these is Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy.

Barrett was good friends with the poet Delmore Schwartz for many years. He knew many other literary figures of the day, including Edmund Wilson, Philip Rahv, and Albert Camus. He was deeply influenced by the philosophy of Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, and Heidegger. In fiction his taste ran to the great Russians, particularly Dostoyevsky. He was deeply religious in an unconventional, philosophical sense.

[edit] External links

• [1] His biography at anova.org.

Among Barrett's other books are "Death of the Soul: From Descartes to the Computer," "The Illusion of Technique: A Search for Meaning in a Technological Civilization," "The Truants: Adventures Among the Intellectuals," "What Is Existentialism?" and "Time of Need: Forms of Imagination in the Twentieth Century."

In "The Illusion of Technique" he summarized a lifetime of philosophical thinking in one sentence: "Amid all the definitions proposed for man the most truthful would in fact be that he is the religious animal."