Popper’s theory-primacy resembled Critical Theory, yet he still made natural-science progress the philosophical standard.

Evidence

With his emphasis on the primacy of theory and the purely corrective function of empirical investigation, Popper seemed to be closer to Critical Theory than genuine positivists. But the historical fact of the advancement of knowledge in the natural sciences from Galileo to Einstein formed for him, too, the point of departure and the critical standard for all philosophical reflection. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 597

Categorization

• XREF: Positions Popper paradoxically between Frankfurt Critical Theory and positivism — a key node in the reader’s institutional-map of the positivist dispute. — connects to: Popper’s philosophy of science implicitly rejected Critical Theory as unscientific — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2411; Popper equated natural-science method with scientific rationality itself — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2410; Popper’s philosophy of science rejected every core premise of Critical Theory — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2412
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Popper’s philosophy of science implicitly rejected Critical Theory as unscientific — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2411; Popper equated natural-science method with scientific rationality itself — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2410; Popper’s philosophy of science rejected every core premise of Critical Theory — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2412

Broader Connections

• Popper’s philosophy of science implicitly rejected Critical Theory as unscientific #complicates (0.78) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2411