Irrational Man

Unclear and unbalanced. These are the best 2 words that describe this book. Unclear, because Nietzsche and the Arts are not well presented. Unbalanced because I sensed that the author has a very strong bias toward Heidegger even though Kierkegaard is so well presented that I must place the Danish in the list of the to be read one.

Besides the chapter on Kierkegaard, the section on the sources of Existentialism is worthy reading. I found enlighten his contrast between Hebraism and Hellenism. The first is shown as an ideology of faith and the second, as one of reason. The Faith-Reason tension impels Western thought forward into the future and creates a permanent source of agony and uncertainty.

However, I did not found this book to be a good introduction to Existentialism because of the author’s bias toward a Nazi –Heidegger. - How could I take Heidegger seriously when I believe that ‘you will know them by their deeds’? If the most important questions are questions of values –I mean, Why not to commit suicide? how should I live my life? How should I deal with the other? Etc. –, how could I take Heidegger –a Nazi- and Sartre –a darn communist- seriously? No. Because their philosophies did not save them from evil, their philosophy is highly suspicious.