Counter-Enlightenment conservatism won postwar German mass audiences through popular positivism

Evidence

Throughout its history, the Institut carried on a spirited defense of reason on two fronts. In addition to the attack by the irrationalists, which by the twentieth century had degenerated into outright obscurantist mindlessness, another and perhaps more serious threat was posed from a different quarter. With the breakdown of the Hegelian synthesis in the second half of the nineteenth century, a new stress on empirically derived social science had developed alongside the increasing domination of natural science over men’s lives. 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. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 243 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Enlightenment’s conversion into positivism has been historically confirmed.; Vienna Circle positivism out-competed Critical Theory in America due to philosophical congruence. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 243; Schelsky, Gehlen, and Freyer held an anti-democratic positivism rooted in counter-Enlightenment tradition. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2458 (+1 more)

Related

• Vienna Circle positivism out-competed Critical Theory in America due to philosophical congruence. (similarity 0.88)
• Schelsky, Gehlen, and Freyer held an anti-democratic positivism rooted in counter-Enlightenment tradition. (similarity 0.84)
• Logical empiricism dominated Anglo-American academic philosophy by the late 1930s. (similarity 0.80)
• Schelsky’s popular conservatism won audiences by rejecting reflexivity and high ideals (similarity 0.80)
• Logical positivism in Vienna functioned as political resistance to fascism (similarity 0.79)
• The Frankfurt School’s positivism label covered nominalist, empirical, scientific currents (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Enlightenment’s conversion into positivism has been historically confirmed. #corroborates (0.75)
• Vienna Circle positivism out-competed Critical Theory in America due to philosophical congruence. #corroborates (0.72) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 243