Juan José Sebreli

Juan José Pérez Sebreli (; 3 November 1930 – 1 November 2024) was an Argentine sociologist, essayist and philosopher. Throughout his intellectual work, he concentrated on the notions of reason, city and everyday life.

Background Inspired by Gay Power movement, he was co-founder of Frente de Liberación Homosexual ("Gay Liberation Front") along with Manuel Puig and Néstor Perlongher, in the last years of the self-called Argentine Revolution. The organization of the group was an adaptation of the democratic centralist partisan model. In years that followed the last coup d'état he directed study groups that were called "Universidad de las Sombras" ("University of Shadows"). As suggested by its name, it had a secret status, which was a consequence of the Dirty War, that is, political persecution and forced disappearance carried out by the military government, both being crimes against humanity. Sebreli is mainly known because of his past collaboration with cultural magazines, such as Contorno and Sur. He was a columnist for La Nación and Perfil newspapers and Ñ magazine. He engaged in several television debates with Hugo Mujica.

Sebreli was hospitalized with COVID-19, on 9 August 2020, at the Hospital Italiano in Buenos Aires. He died in Buenos Aires on 1 November 2024, at the age of 93.

Work

Populism In his work, Sebreli was radically critical of populism. His arguments are characterized by a sharp focus on the Argentine heterogeneous experiences of Peronism, a movement he describes as fascist at its core. He criticizes the figure of Juan Domingo Perón, depicting him as an authoritarian and charismatic leader, thus making use of Weberian categories of thought. Sebreli stated that the persistence of Peronism could be understood if one considers that, as a matter of fact, "there are sectors in the Argentine society that have a (pretended) lack of memory and are prone to self-deception". In one of his latest books ("El malestar en la política", 2012), he argued that Kirchnerism is a form of "latinoamerican neopopulism" and "plebiscitary caesarism", for it perfectly contrasts with a democratic republic.

Irrationalism Sebreli is quite known for his criticism of 'irrational' theoretical inquiries. His arguments were an effort to corrode the foundations of psychoanalysis, and it is for that reason he labelled such discipline as pseudoscience, following Karl Popper, as it lacks a proper scientific method. He asserted that Schopenhauer is "the true father of modern irrationalism", and that along with Dostoievski and Nietzsche, he contributed to the transformation of philosophy in art, the aestheticization of life and thought.

Existentialism Sebreli was a member of the so-called "first Argentine existentialist group" along with Oscar Masotta and Carlos Correas. He introduced Jean-Paul Sartre into the academic milieux of his time. Molded by the Hegelian and Marxist Left, he introduced the political thought of Alexandre Kojève and that of Tran Duc Thao.

Politics In 2002 he supported Ricardo López Murphy's candidacy to presidency, something he later referred to as "situational." Sebreli identified as social-democrat, "in a European sense," and more recently as a left-liberal.

In the wake of the abortion debate in Argentina, he addressed the subject expressing his pro-choice views at the Congress.

Documentaries A Certain Regard. Contrakultura Films, 2004. Directed by Eduardo Montes-Bradley