Hugo Herrera (Chilean philosopher)

Hugo Eduardo Herrera Arellano (born 5 February 1974) is a Chilean lawyer, philosopher and scholar dedicated to the Philosophy of Right. Known as the theoretician of the Chilean "social right-wing", Herrera works as a professor at the Schools of Law of the Diego Portales University (UDP) and the University of Valparaíso (UV).

Hugo Herrera
Director of Diego Portales University Philosophy Institute
In office
15 January 2015 – 9 January 2020
President of the University of Valparaiso Students' Federation
In office
March 1995 – December 1995
Succeeded byPablo Badenier
Personal details
Born (1974-02-05) 5 February 1974
Vina del Mar, Chile
Political partyUnión Demócrata Independiente
(1993–1997)
Close to Renovación Nacional
(2018–present)
Alma mater
OccupationPolitical thinker
ProfessionLawyer, Philosopher
Philosophy career
Notable workLa derecha en la crisis del bicentenario
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolNational conservatism
Main interests

A former member of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) from 1993 to 1997,[1] Herrera is identified with centre-right politics, but proclaims to being distant from the neoliberal ideas[1] of Milton Friedman and the Chicago Boys. He has been described as "one of the most lucid and enlightened intellectuals from the Chilean right today".[2] He has also been classified by the libertarian Axel Kaiser as being close in thought to Chilean nationalism,[3] but Herrera prefers to pigeonhole himself into a "national-popular tradition", and within which he mainly rescues works of Alberto Edwards or historians like Francisco Antonio Encina and Mario Góngora.

In 2015 he was an independent member of the Political Committee of Chile Vamos, a centre-right coalition whose then leader was Sebastián Piñera.[4] Nevertheless, he has criticized his own coalition for its "lack of political vision" related, according him, to the prevalence of economic discourse over any other.[5] One of the politicians whom he has influenced in the coalition is Mario Desbordes of Renovación Nacional (RN),[6] although Desbordes does not recognize himself as being grounded in Herrera's theory.[7] This influence became notorious after the Estallido Social (Social Outbreak; 2019–20 protests), where Desbordes was a key politician in the November 15th agreement[8] to "Approve"[9][10][11] a new constitution in the plebiscite to replace the 1980 constitution.

Herrera is a member of the board of several scientific journals, including the University of Valparaíso Journal of Social Sciences. He is a regular columnist in various Chilean press media, specifically the newspapers La Tercera,[12] La Segunda,[13] El Mercurio,[14] and El Mostrador.[15]

Biography

Early life

Born in Vina del Mar, he attended Sagrados Corazones School during his primary education and the high school. Once graduated, he decided to study laws at University of Valparaíso (UV), joining to that institution in 1992. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in May 1998 after approving his thesis entitled «Fin, virtudes y ley en la 'Suma contra Gentiles». It was supervised by the scholar Joaquín García-Huidobro Correa. Then, in 2004, he obtained his PhD at the University of Würzburg.

During his spell at the university, he was secretary general of the UV Students Federation (FEUV) from 1994 to 1995. There, he was a member UDI Youth until 1998, year which he distanced from them due to his growing "ideological distance from the party and its neoliberal discourse".[1]

Scholar career

In 2005, when he ended his term in Würzburg, his doctoral thesis titled Sein und Staat. Die ontologische Begründung der politischen Praxis bei Helmut Kuhn was released.

Works

Books
  • Cinco ensayos sobre la fundamentación de la praxis, Valparaíso. Valparaíso, Chile, University of Valparaíso Editions (2000)
  • Sein und Staat. Die ontologische Begründung der politischen Praxis bei Helmut Kuhn. Würzburg, Germany, Königshausen & Neumann (2005)
  • ¿De qué hablamos cuando hablamos de Estado? Ensayo filosófico de justificación de la praxis política. Santiago, Chile, Instituto de Estudios de la Sociedad (2009)
  • Carl Schmitt als politischer Philosoph. Versuch einer Bestimmung seiner Stellung bezüglich der Tradition der praktischen Philosophie. Berlín, Germany, Duncker & Humblot (2010)
  • Más allá del cientificismo. Santiago, Chile, Diego Portales University Editions (2011)
  • La excepción universitaria. Reflexiones sobre la educación superior chilena. Santiago, Chile, Diego Portales University Editions (2012)
  • La derecha en la crisis del bicentenario. Santiago, Chile, Diego Portales University Editions (2015)
  • La frágil universidad. Santiago, Chile, Centro de Estudios Públicos (2016)
  • Octubre en Chile. Santiago, Chile, Katankura (2019)
  • Carl Schmitt Between Technological Rationality and Theology: The Position and Meaning of His Legal Thought. New York, US, State University of New York Press (2020)
  • Razón bruta revolucionaria. Santiago, Chile, Katankura (2020)

References
  1. Minay C., Sebastián (18 January 2020). "Irrumpieron entre los intelectuales del sector, se sumaron a "Chile Vamos" y hoy presentan texto que busca darle "relato"". El Mercurio. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  2. Cristi, Renato (2014). "¿Una derecha republicana?, 138, p. 217" (PDF). Estudios Públicos. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  3. Kaiser, Axel (7 March 2017). "No más socialismo". Cato Institute. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  4. "Orgánica "Chile Vamos"". Unión Demócrata Independiente Official Website. December 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  5. Bolton, Rodrigo Karmy (14 October 2019). "La segunda transición: Cartografías Intelectuales de la Derecha" (in Spanish). El Desconcierto. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  6. "Ideólogo de Renovación Nacional: "El Presidente puede destacar su identidad RN orientando su gobierno con una visión política antes que económica"" (in Spanish). El Líbero. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  7. "El pensamiento de Hugo Herrera, referente intelectual de Mario Desbordes". Nuevopoder.cl (in Spanish). Nuevo Poder. 26 December 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  8. "Desbordes (RN) afirma que "hay uno o dos días" para alcanzar una salida a la crisis y que no descarta "un plebiscito" para definir el mecanismo constituyente". La Tercera (in Spanish). La Tercera. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  9. "Mario Desbordes: "Muchas personas de centroderecha votamos por el Apruebo"". El Mostrador (in Spanish). 26 October 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  10. "Celebrations as Chile approves historic constitutional reform". The Santiago Times. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  11. "A new Constitution for Chile: result of a plebiscite on 25 October 2020". Lexology. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  12. "La derecha en crisis". La Tercera. 11 August 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  13. "Renovación de la derecha". La Segunda. 19 August 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  14. "La derecha ante la historia". El Mercurio. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  15. "Lot of opinion columns "La crisis intelectual de la derecha"". El Mostrador. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
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