The Institut rejected Weber’s value-free science and his defense of capitalism

Evidence

The Frankfurt School could be in agreement with this latter observation but not with the former. Where Weber also failed in their eyes was in hypostatizing the distinction between ends and means, a false dichotomy that was further reflected in his belief in the possibility of a “value-free” social science. In addition, the Institut rejected Weber’s contention that capitalism was the highest form of socio-economic rationality. As Marxists, they repudiated the notion that an unplanned economy without socialized means of production could be anything but irrational. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 401

Categorization

• XREF: Crucial to understanding why American social science (dominated by Weber’s value-freedom ideal) and the emigre Frankfurt School diverged. — connects to: Habermas over-weighted Weber and under-weighted Marx in diagnosing modernity — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 458; The Institut rejected Weber’s formal rationality in favor of substantive rationalism — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 400; Weber’s neo-Kantianism barred him from hoping to restore substantive reason — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 783

Broader Connections

• Weber’s neo-Kantianism barred him from hoping to restore substantive reason #qualifies (0.80) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 783