Gehlen, the self-described empirical philosopher, rejected experimental testing when it suited him

Evidence

Although I have the feeling that we are united in certain profound premisses, it’s my impression that it is dangerousand that you have the tendencyto make people dissatisfied with the little that still remains to them out of the whole catastrophic situation. 175 The debate thus seemed to end in stalemate. Or was this deceptive? Was Gehlen not the loser? It was precisely the defender of the attitude Out into hostile life!' who was presenting himself here in a protective role. It was precisely Gehlen, who called himself an empirical philosopher’, who was not prepared to leave matters to experimental testing. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 622

Categorization

• SHARE: Niche tidbit for a reader of Adorno-Gehlen debates: the ‘empirical philosopher’ refuses empirical testing at the moment he’s cornered.
• XREF: connects to: Gehlen’s pragmatism concealed a refusal to test his claims empirically — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2488; Adorno rejected empirical research criticism despite its validity — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1012
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Gehlen’s pragmatism concealed a refusal to test his claims empirically — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2488; Adorno rejected empirical research criticism despite its validity — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1012

Broader Connections

• Gehlen’s pragmatism concealed a refusal to test his claims empirically #expands (0.93) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2488