Domenico Losurdo 1941–2018, In Memoriam

ABSTRACT

Domenico Losurdo was convinced of the intrinsically political nature of philosophy: political judgment is the test that verifies or falsifies even the most complex metaphysics, which have no meaning if they are not related to the real world. Losurdo often had to defend himself against the accusation of political partisanship. Therefore, he was obliged to demonstrate constantly that he had mastered the history of modern and contemporary philosophy, together with its main theoretical nodes, better than anyone else. Over some 40 years of work, he showed a keen interest in classical German philosophy, studying its relationship with the French Revolution and altering our conceptions of it forever. He turned subsequently to examining liberalism, showing that it is not a theory of individual liberties but represents first and foremost the self-awareness of the “free” community who perceive themselves as “well-born,” that is, as aristocrats. Finally, he dedicated himself to the reconstruction of Marxism and historical materialism, starting from a redefinition of the concept of class struggle and undertaking a revaluation of “Eastern Marxism,” linked to the anti-colonial struggle, in relation to “Western Marxism.” His death leaves us poorer but the conceptual tools he forged will help us to continue his work.

KEYWORDS:

• Losurdo
• German classical philosophy
• liberalism
• Marxism
• anti-colonialism

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on Contributor

Stefano G. Azzarà teaches the History of Political Philosophy in the Department of Humanities at the University of Urbino. He is also secretary to the presidium of the Internationale Gesellschaft Hegel-Marx. His research deals with the great philosophical and political traditions of the contemporary epoch: conservatism, liberalism and historical materialism. He collaborates with international journals and is the director of Materialismo Storico. He has spoken at conferences in Italy and abroad, and his recently published books include Un Nietzsche italiano (An Italian Nietzsche) published by Manifestolibri in Roma, 2011; L’humanité commune (The Common Humanity) published by Delga in Paris, 2011; Democrazia cercasi (In Search of Democracy) published by Imprimatur in Reggio Emilia, 2014; and Friedrich Nietzsche dal radicalismo aristocratico alla Rivoluzione conservatrice (Friedrich Nietzsche from Aristocratic Radicalism to Conservative Revolution) published by Castelvecchi in Roma, 2014 and Comunisti, fascisti e questione nazionale (Communists, Fascists and National Question) published by Mimesis in Milano, 2018.

Notes

1. Aufhebung is a specialist term of the Hegelian philosophy denoting “overcoming.”