Methodological disputes served as proxy arenas for substantive social theory conflicts

Evidence

The controversy between Hofstätter and Adorno publicly crystallized, for the first time in the Federal Republic, something which later went down in the history of sociology as the `positivist dispute’: the use of disputes over the methodology and philosophy of science as an arena for controversies over social theory and social policy. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2046

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s Marxist critique material — the positivist dispute as ideology critique is directly relevant to ‘Against Postmodernism: A Marxist Critique’. — connects to: The positivist dispute began as method disputes concealing social-policy controversies.; Methodological critique can disprove a proof but never disprove a theory — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 642; Critique reduces to critiquing the social process itself — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1107 (+1 more)
• DEFINE: Defines the ‘positivist dispute’ as methodology-as-arena, useful reference terminology for critical theory.

Broader Connections

• Methodological critique can disprove a proof but never disprove a theory #expands (0.85) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 642
• Critique reduces to critiquing the social process itself #responds-to (0.80) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1107