Irrational Man helped to introduce existentialism to the English-speaking world and has been identified as one of the most useful books that discuss the subject, but Barrett has also been criticized for endorsing irrationality and for giving a distorted and misleading account of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
The book Irrational Man served as a catalyst in bringing existentialism to the English-speaking world and is widely regarded as an authoritative work on the subject. However, Barrett's promotion of irrationality and his inaccurate depiction of Hegel have been met with significant criticism.