The Popper-Adorno debate turned on pessimism versus reformist optimism about social change

Evidence

Both Popper and Adorno claimed to experience the contradictory character of society; but they experienced and reacted to this in different ways. In the discussion, Adorno admitted that he saw himself as being forced back to the position of left-wing Hegelianism in the face of social reality. Human nature and the shape of reality made a liar of anyone who behaved as if one could change the world tomorrow'. At this, Popper accused him of suffering from the ”pessimism” that must necessarily spring from the disappointment arising from the foundering of overextended utopian or revolutionary hopes.’ By contrast, someone like Popper himself, who believed he knew nothing and wished for less, was able to be an optimist. It was at this late point in the discussion that the classic confrontation was reached. Popper represented the view that one must do what was possible, and claimed to share with Adorno the ideal of a more rational societybut he upheld this ideal as something impossible which one must hope for in order to be able to achieve what was possible. He accused his opponent of presenting what was impossible as theoretically possible: if Adorno was not an optimistic revolutionary stirring up revolt, then he was a desperate anti-reformist spreading dissatisfaction with prevailing conditions and with what was genuinely possible, and therefore instigating a form of resignation to fate that could have incalculable consequences. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2414

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Popper called Adorno’s apparent pessimism resignation from failed utopian hopes — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2414; The 1961 Tübingen Popper-Adorno debate failed to surface the real divide — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2402; Increasing theoretical radicalism coincided with growing political pessimism — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 772 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Increasing theoretical radicalism coincided with growing political pessimism #expands (0.82) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 772
• MPS members preferred stricter ideological policing over Popper’s open debate #exemplifies (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 196
• Soros’s INET inherited the Popper-Hayek divide over science and open society. #exemplifies (0.78) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 1895
• Lakatos fused Lukács and Popper into a two-part theory-testing model #expands (0.75) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 433