Horkheimer located Critical Theory’s distinctiveness at the level of theory, not empirical method.

Evidence

In Horkheimer’s view, the Institute’s work could be distinguished from bourgeois science primarily at the level of theory, where it was a question of integrating the results of empirical inquiries and research within the various scientific disciplines into a theory of how society as a whole functioned. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 197

Categorization

• DEFINE: States the defining programmatic commitment of the Institute: theory as integration of disciplinary empirical results into a whole-society account.
• XREF: Builds on the Institute’s funding and publication choices — theory over empirical output — made under Horkheimer’s directorship.