Both positivism and pragmatism shared philosophical assumptions Horkheimer opposed.
Evidence
Positivism denied the validity of the traditional idea of reason as Vernunft, which it dismissed as empty metaphysics. At the time of the Frankfurt School the most significant proponents of this point of view were the Logical Positivists of the Vienna Circle, who were forced to emigrate to the United States at about the same time. In America their impact was far greater than the Institut’s because of the congruence of their ideas with the basic traditions of American philosophy. In later years Horkheimer took pains to establish the similarities between such native schools as pragmatism and Logical Positivism. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 243
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Horkheimer attacked pragmatism for reducing truth to what conforms to present reality — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 308; Positivist philosophy imposes an empirical a priori that cannot be transcended — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 671; Adorno rejected both positivism and abstract individualism while insisting on nonidentity. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 268 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Horkheimer attacked pragmatism for reducing truth to what conforms to present reality
#expands(0.85) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 308 - Positivist philosophy imposes an empirical a priori that cannot be transcended
#corroborates(0.80) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 671 - Adorno rejected both positivism and abstract individualism while insisting on nonidentity.
#expands(0.75) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 268 - American pragmatism and French poststructuralism merged to attack Enlightenment rationalism.
#exemplifies(0.75) — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 300