On this latter point, there is no need for such retrospective psychologising: joining the then revolutionary Italian Socialist Party in 1947, Timpanaro remained a committed member of the radical left wing of Italian socialist politics throughout his life. From the purview of a radical leftist such as Timpanaro, it is a familiar story. In 1976, disgusted with this trajectory, Timpanaro threw in the towel after thirty years as an active member of organised party politics on the left. Philosophic and political commitmentsDuring his active years, Timpanaro would find himself most ‘at home’ in the Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity, for whom he undertook the lion’s share of his militant activities. It was during the post-war years outlined above that, alongside his militant activities, Timpanaro’s intellectual career began to take shape.