Introduction to ‘Nietzsche, Philosopher of Reaction’ by Domenico Losurdo

Abstract This introduction to the English translation of the 1997 work by Domenico Losurdo, Nietzsche: per una biografia politica , provides framing background to the text. It contextualises Losurdo’s book in light of the 2020 English-language appearance of his more extensive work, Nietzsche, the Aristocratic Rebel , as well as the different strands of left-liberal and poststructuralist interpretation of Nietzsche which emerged during the Cold War. We examine in some detail Losurdo’s key idea of a hermeneutics of innocence surrounding Nietzsche. We then introduce the bases of Losurdo’s orienting claim that Nietzsche was a philosopher totus politicus , the greatest reactionary amongst philosophers, and greatest philosopher amongst modern reactionaries.