Domenico Losurdo 1941-1918: in memory

Linked as he was to the tradition that leads from Hegel to Marx, Domenico Losurdo was convinced of the intrinsically political nature of philosophy: political judgment, he considered, is the test that verifies or falsifies even the most complex metaphysics, which have no meaning if they are not “secularized” and related to the real world. Precisely for this reason, Losurdo often had to defend himself against the accusation of political partisanship. To refute this accusation, 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,” a philosophy perhaps more refined but less capable of universality. His death leaves us poorer but the conceptual tools he forged will help us to continue his work.