Name William Barrett Role Poet | Education Columbia University | |
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Died September 8, 1992, Tarrytown, New York, United States Awards Guggenheim Fellowship for Humanities, US & Canada Books Irrational Man, The illusion of technique, Death of the Soul: From Des, The Truants: Adventur, Time of need: forms of i | ||
William barrett on existentialism part 1 of 3
William Christopher Barrett (1913–1992) was a professor of philosophy at New York University from 1950 to 1979.
Contents
- William barrett on existentialism part 1 of 3
- William barrett on existentialism part 2 of 3
- Biography
- Books
- References
William barrett on existentialism part 2 of 3
Biography
Precociously, Barrett 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 literary critic of The Atlantic Monthly magazine. He was well known for writing philosophical works for nonexperts. These included Irrational Man and The Illusion of Technique, which remain in print.
Like many intellectuals of his generation, Barrett flirted with Marxism before turning his energies to providing readable introductions to European philosophical schools, notably existentialism.
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 philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche, Søren Kierkegaard, and Martin Heidegger and was the editor of D. T. Suzuki's 1956 classic Zen Buddhism. In fiction his taste ran to the great Russians, particularly Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
Barrett died in 1992, aged 78, of cancer of the esophagus.
Barrett's Law is named for him: "not everyone who might read the productions of scholarly writers is an expert in the fields discussed" (p. 99).