Empirical social science counters dictators by testing their ideological claims against reality.

Evidence

There is also a crypto-totalitarian critique of totalitarianism, which appears most strongly in the cultural criticism inspired by Marx. By contrast, the critique of power, as Geiger sees it, develops along entirely different lines, namely through the empirical social sciences, which measure the ideological pretensions of dictators against reality and thus work towards genuine `enlightenment’. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 596

Categorization

• DEFINE: Draws the distinction between a crypto-totalitarian critique of totalitarianism and an empirical, test-against-reality critique of power that Geiger preferred.
• XREF: Connects to Popper’s fallibilism and critical rationalism later in this same paragraph, and to the positivist dispute over what counts as critique. — connects to: Authoritarian research experimentally distinguishes sincere belief from pandering to the majority — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1415; Empirical testing can resolve ideologically loaded psychological questions — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 90; Testing the reverse threat sequence rules out secular-trend explanations of authoritarianism. (+9 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Authoritarian research experimentally distinguishes sincere belief from pandering to the majority — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1415; Empirical testing can resolve ideologically loaded psychological questions — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 90; Testing the reverse threat sequence rules out secular-trend explanations of authoritarianism. (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Authoritarian-style certitude resists even direct counterevidence #complicates (0.82) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2630
• Ideological scientificality overrides factual reality in totalitarian action #complicates (0.80)
• Authoritarians apply a double standard favoring agreeable evidence when judging truth #complicates (0.78) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1298
• Authoritarians maintain beliefs by avoiding challenges and curating agreeable information sources. #complicates (0.76) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1436
• Brain science disguises ideological presuppositions that philosophers must expose #complicates (0.72) — Catherine Malabou, What Should We Do with Our Brain?, 54