Abstract

In his book Losurdo claims that Nietzsche's development can be understood only in political terms, as a life-long attack on revolution, democracy and modernity. In doing so, Nietzsche, the "radical aristocrat", carries the conservative implications of liberalism to their extreme consequences, thus paving the way to Nazism. Losurdo's approach throws light on the internal consistency of Nietzsche's thought and puts paid once and for all to interpretations that ignore or downplay the sinister aspects of his thought. However, Losurdo's conflation of Nietzsche and the liberal tradition is liable to criticism. Furthermore, the big questions Nietzsche raised as a "psychologist" and a "physiologist of culture" cannot be answered by merely stressing the reactionary character of his thought.