Schelsky, Gehlen, and Freyer held an anti-democratic positivism rooted in counter-Enlightenment tradition.

Evidence

Schelsky, Gehlen and Freyer were conservative critics of culture. In so far as they were positivists, their position represented an instrumentalist, scornful attitude towards modern culture and industrial culture as such. As early as when he was writing his introduction to the first part of the Institute of Social Research project on University and Society, Habermas, mentioning Schelsky’s open advocacy of the counter-Enlightenment in his book on the Sociology of Sexuality, had summed up the position of the young conservatives. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2458

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the ‘young conservatives’ position: instrumentalist positivism fused with a scornful, counter-Enlightenment attitude toward industrial culture.
• XREF: Connects to the broader Frankfurt School vs. positivism dispute (Habermas’s ‘Erkenntnis und Interesse’ and the positivism dispute with Popper). — connects to: Counter-Enlightenment conservatism won postwar German mass audiences through popular positivism; Authoritarians of opposing ideologies unite against democracy. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 4283

Broader Connections

• Counter-Enlightenment conservatism won postwar German mass audiences through popular positivism #expands (0.88)
• Authoritarians of opposing ideologies unite against democracy. #exemplifies (0.85) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 4283