Three Positivist Disputes in the 1960s
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15173/jhap.v6i8.3237Abstract
The West German positivist dispute in the 1960s is well known and thoroughly studied. At about the same time positivist disputes also took place in two Scandinavian countries: one in Norway and one in Sweden. What did the front lines in the debate look like in the three countries? What was the outcome of the different disputes? The main focus in the article is on the Swedish case, but some comparative perspectives relating to the three disputes will also be presented. The Swedish positivist dispute originated with Gerard Radnitzky’s doctoral dissertation in theory of science, defended at the University of Gothenburg in May 1968, Contemporary Schools of Metascience (2 volumes). The dissertation caused a stir of controversy. It meant a challenge to the Swedish philsophical establishment because it leaned heavily on continental philosophers such as Karl-Otto Apel and Jürgen Habermas, who at the time were more or less unknown in Sweden. The controversy was continuated in the following years, most notably in the leftist journal Häften för kritiska studier (Notebooks for Critical Studies).
References
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———, 1977. ‘Autobiographische Einleitung.’ In Kritische Vernunft und menschliche Praxis, pp. 5–33. Stuttgart: Reclam.
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Bergström, Lars, 1972. Objektivitet. En undersökning av innebörden, möjligheten och önskvärdheten av objektivitet i samhällsvetenskapen. Stockholm: Prisma.
Christiansen, Per Fredrik and Helge Vold, eds., 1969. Kampen om universitetet. Boken fra filosofistudentenes aksjonsuke. Oslo: Pax Forlag.
Dahms, Hans-Joachim, 1994. Positivismusstreit. Die Auseinandersetzungen der Frankfurter Schule mit dem logischen Positivismus, dem amerikanischen Pragmatismus und dem kritischen Rationalismus. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Dahrendorf, Ralf, 1976. ‘Remarks on the Discussion.’ In Adorno et al. (1976), pp. 123–30.
Demirovic, Alex, 1999. Der nonkonformistische Intellektuelle. Die Entwicklung der Kritischen Theorie zur Frankfurter Schule. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Ekelund, Alexander, 2017. Kampen om vetenskapen. Om politisk och vetenskaplig formering under den svenska vänsterradikaliseringens era. Gothenburg: Daidalos.
Elzinga, Aant, 1968. ‘Habermas och den kritiska vetenskapen.’ Zenit 4: 79–80.
Elzinga, Aant and Gerard Radnitzky, 1968a. ‘Anglosaxisk kontra kontinental vetenskapssyn.’ Häften för kritiska studier 1–2: 37–47, 68.
———, 1968b. ‘Om intolerans och forskningens frihet.’ Häften för kritiska studier 1–2: 57–59.
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———, 1968b. ‘Ledare.’ Häften för kritiska studier 3: 1–2.
———, 1969. ‘Anteckningar om positivismen.’ Häften för kritiska studier 2–3: 26–38.
Føllesdal, Dagfinn, 1977. ‘Den moderne positivisme og dens kritikere.’ In Livsåskådningsforskning, pp. 93–133. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.
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———, 2002. The Theory of Communicative Action, vol. 1, Reason and the Rationalization of Society. Boston: Beacon Press.
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Löfgren, Åke, 1969. ‘Några kommentarer till Göran Therborn.’ Häften för kritiska studier 6: 39–44.
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Næss, Arne and Jon Hellesnes, 1980. ‘Norway.’ In Handbook of World Philosophy. Contemporary Developments Since 1945, edited by J. Burr, pp. 159–72. London: Aldwich.
Nordenstam, Tore and Hans Skjervheim, 1973. ‘Philosophy of Science in Norway.’ Journal for General Philosophy of Science 18: 147–64.
Øfsti, Audun, 1976. ‘Det sosiale som fungerende intersubjektivitet.’ In Slagstad (1976a), pp. 319–31.
———, 2015. Identifikasjon av fysiske og sosiale fenomener. Oslo: Novus Forlag.
Östling, Johan, 2017. Sweden After Nazism: Politics and Culture in the Wake of the Second World War. New York: Berghahn Books.
Popper, Karl R., 1978. Unended Quest. An Intellectual Autobiography. Glasgow: Fontana/Collins.
Radnitzky, Gerard, 1968a. Contemporary Schools of Metascience, vol. I, Anglo-Saxon Schools of Metascience. Gothenburg: Akademiförlaget.
———, 1968b. Contemporary Schools of Metascience, vol. II, Continental Schools of Metascience. Gothenburg: Akademiförlaget.
———, 1970. ‘Introduction.’ In Contemporary Schools of Metascience, 2nd ed., pp. ix–xl. Gothenburg: Akademiförlaget.
———, 1981. ‘Du positivisme logique au rationalisme critique en passant par la théorie critiques.’ Archives de Philosophie 44: 99–115.
———, 2006. Das verdammte 20. Jahrhundert. Erinnerungen und Reflexionen eines politisch Unkorrekten. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag.
Ribot, Théodule, 1875. La psychologie anglaise contemporaine (école experimentale), 2nd ed. Paris: Baillière.
Ritsert, Jürgen, 2010. ‘Der Positivismusstreit.’ In Soziologische Kontroversen. Beiträge zu einer anderen Geschichte der Wissenschaft vom Sozialen, edited by G. Kneer and S. Moebius, pp. 102–30. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Rokkan, Stein, 1970. ‘Samfunnsforskning, teknokrati og ideologisk sekterisme.’ Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning 11: 1–12.
Segelberg, Ivar, 1968. Official letter to the Historical-philosophical Section at the University of Gothenburg, 24 June 1968. D:nr Aa 268/68 in the Gothenburg regional archives (unpublished).
Skjervheim, Hans, 1959. Objectivism and the Study of Man, Filosofiske problemer, no. 23. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
———, 1971. Deltagare och åskådare. Sex bidrag till debatten om människans frihet i det moderna samhället. Stockholm: Prisma.
Slagstad, Rune, ed., 1976a. Positivisme, dialektikk, materialisme. Den norske debatten om samfunnsvitenskapenes teori. Oslo, Bergen and Tromsø: Universitetsforlaget.
———, 1976b. ‘Innledning.’ In Slagstad (1976a), pp. 9–82.
Sørbø, Jan Inge, 2002. Hans Skjervheim – ein intellektuell biografi. Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget.
Stadler, Friedrich, 2010. ‘Arne Næss: Dogmas and Problems of Empiricism.’ In Manninen and Stadler (2010), pp. 11–31.
Therborn, Göran, 1969. ‘Från revolutionär teori till akademisk metafysik. Till den kritiska teorins historia, I–II.’ Häften för kritiska studier 5: 13–36 and 6: 21–38.
Thue, Fredrik W., 2006. In Quest of a Democratic Social Order. The Americanization of Norwegian Social Scholarship 1918–1970. Oslo: Faculty of Humanities, University of Oslo.
Tranøy, Knut Erik, 2002. ‘Arne Næss i 90. Filosofi, positivismestrid, etikk.’ Norsk Filosofisk tidsskrift 1–2: 56–63.
Wedberg, Anders, 1968. ‘Om Radnitzkys avhandling.’ Häften för kritiska studier 3: 42–43.
Wiggershaus, Rolf, 1997. Die Frankfurter Schule. Geschichte. Theoretische Entwicklung. Politische Bedeutung. Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag.
Adorno, Theodor W., Hans Albert, Ralf Dahrendorf, Jürgen Habermas, Harald Pilot and Karl R. Popper, 1969. Der Positivismusstreit in der deutschen Soziologie. Neuwied and Berlin: Luchterhand. Translated into English as Adorno et al. (1976).
———, 1976. The Positivist Dispute in German Sociology, translated by G. Adey and D. Frisby. London: Heinemann.
Akehurst, Thomas, 2010. The Cultural Politics of Analytical Philosophy: Britishness and the Spectre of Europe. London and New York: Continuum.
Albert, Hans, 1976. ‘Behind Positivism’s Back?’ In Adorno et al. (1976), pp. 226–57.
———, 1977. ‘Autobiographische Einleitung.’ In Kritische Vernunft und menschliche Praxis, pp. 5–33. Stuttgart: Reclam.
Albert, Hans and Karl Popper, 2005. Briefwechsel 1958–1994, edited by M. Morgenstern and R. Zimmer. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag.
Allwood, Carl Martin and Jan Bärmark, 1994. ‘Håkan Törnebohm. Problemutveckling hos en forskare i vetenskapsteori.’ VEST 2: 59–94.
Aubert, Vilhelm, 1969. ‘Svar. Norsk samfunnsforskning foran 1970-årene. En enquete.’ Tidskrift for samfunnsforskning 10: 57–60.
Bergström, Lars, 1972. Objektivitet. En undersökning av innebörden, möjligheten och önskvärdheten av objektivitet i samhällsvetenskapen. Stockholm: Prisma.
Christiansen, Per Fredrik and Helge Vold, eds., 1969. Kampen om universitetet. Boken fra filosofistudentenes aksjonsuke. Oslo: Pax Forlag.
Dahms, Hans-Joachim, 1994. Positivismusstreit. Die Auseinandersetzungen der Frankfurter Schule mit dem logischen Positivismus, dem amerikanischen Pragmatismus und dem kritischen Rationalismus. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Dahrendorf, Ralf, 1976. ‘Remarks on the Discussion.’ In Adorno et al. (1976), pp. 123–30.
Demirovic, Alex, 1999. Der nonkonformistische Intellektuelle. Die Entwicklung der Kritischen Theorie zur Frankfurter Schule. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Ekelund, Alexander, 2017. Kampen om vetenskapen. Om politisk och vetenskaplig formering under den svenska vänsterradikaliseringens era. Gothenburg: Daidalos.
Elzinga, Aant, 1968. ‘Habermas och den kritiska vetenskapen.’ Zenit 4: 79–80.
Elzinga, Aant and Gerard Radnitzky, 1968a. ‘Anglosaxisk kontra kontinental vetenskapssyn.’ Häften för kritiska studier 1–2: 37–47, 68.
———, 1968b. ‘Om intolerans och forskningens frihet.’ Häften för kritiska studier 1–2: 57–59.
Fjellström, Roger, 1968a. ‘Ledare.’ Häften för kritiska studier 1–2: 1–2.
———, 1968b. ‘Ledare.’ Häften för kritiska studier 3: 1–2.
———, 1969. ‘Anteckningar om positivismen.’ Häften för kritiska studier 2–3: 26–38.
Føllesdal, Dagfinn, 1977. ‘Den moderne positivisme og dens kritikere.’ In Livsåskådningsforskning, pp. 93–133. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.
Frank, Manfred, 2015. ‘Hegel wohnt hier nicht mehr.’ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung supplement, 24 September 2015.
Frisby, David, 1976. ‘Introduction to the English Translation.’ In Adorno et al. (1976), pp. ix–xliv.
Giddens, Anthony, 1974. ‘Preface.’ In Positivism and Sociology, edited by A. Giddens, pp. ix–x. London: Heinemann.
Gjefsen, Truls, 2011. Arne Næss. Et liv. Trondheim: Cappelen Damm.
Habermas, Jürgen, 1976. ‘A Positivistically Bisected Rationalism.’ In Adorno et al. (1976), pp. 198–225.
———, 2002. The Theory of Communicative Action, vol. 1, Reason and the Rationalization of Society. Boston: Beacon Press.
Hermerén, Göran, 1972. Värdering och objektivitet. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Honneth, Axel, 1989. Kritik der Macht. Reflexionsstufen einer kritischen Gesellschaftstheorie. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Johannessen, Kjell S., Rolf Larsen and Knut Olav Åmås, eds., 1994. Wittgenstein and Norway. Oslo: Solum Forlag.
Johansson, Ingvar, 1993. ‘Vad betydde maj 1968 för svensk filosofi?’ Tvärsnitt 15: 70–73.
Löfgren, Åke, 1969. ‘Några kommentarer till Göran Therborn.’ Häften för kritiska studier 6: 39–44.
Manninen, Juhan and Friedrich Stadler, eds., 2010. The Vienna Circle in the Nordic Countries: Networks and Transformation of Logical Empiricism. Dordrecht: Springer.
Mele, Vincenzo, ed., 2015. What is Living and what is Dead in The Positivist Dispute? Fifty Years Later. A Debate. Special issue. Journal of Classical Sociology 15: 99–230.
Næss, Arne and Jon Hellesnes, 1980. ‘Norway.’ In Handbook of World Philosophy. Contemporary Developments Since 1945, edited by J. Burr, pp. 159–72. London: Aldwich.
Nordenstam, Tore and Hans Skjervheim, 1973. ‘Philosophy of Science in Norway.’ Journal for General Philosophy of Science 18: 147–64.
Øfsti, Audun, 1976. ‘Det sosiale som fungerende intersubjektivitet.’ In Slagstad (1976a), pp. 319–31.
———, 2015. Identifikasjon av fysiske og sosiale fenomener. Oslo: Novus Forlag.
Östling, Johan, 2017. Sweden After Nazism: Politics and Culture in the Wake of the Second World War. New York: Berghahn Books.
Popper, Karl R., 1978. Unended Quest. An Intellectual Autobiography. Glasgow: Fontana/Collins.
Radnitzky, Gerard, 1968a. Contemporary Schools of Metascience, vol. I, Anglo-Saxon Schools of Metascience. Gothenburg: Akademiförlaget.
———, 1968b. Contemporary Schools of Metascience, vol. II, Continental Schools of Metascience. Gothenburg: Akademiförlaget.
———, 1970. ‘Introduction.’ In Contemporary Schools of Metascience, 2nd ed., pp. ix–xl. Gothenburg: Akademiförlaget.
———, 1981. ‘Du positivisme logique au rationalisme critique en passant par la théorie critiques.’ Archives de Philosophie 44: 99–115.
———, 2006. Das verdammte 20. Jahrhundert. Erinnerungen und Reflexionen eines politisch Unkorrekten. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag.
Ribot, Théodule, 1875. La psychologie anglaise contemporaine (école experimentale), 2nd ed. Paris: Baillière.
Ritsert, Jürgen, 2010. ‘Der Positivismusstreit.’ In Soziologische Kontroversen. Beiträge zu einer anderen Geschichte der Wissenschaft vom Sozialen, edited by G. Kneer and S. Moebius, pp. 102–30. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Rokkan, Stein, 1970. ‘Samfunnsforskning, teknokrati og ideologisk sekterisme.’ Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning 11: 1–12.
Segelberg, Ivar, 1968. Official letter to the Historical-philosophical Section at the University of Gothenburg, 24 June 1968. D:nr Aa 268/68 in the Gothenburg regional archives (unpublished).
Skjervheim, Hans, 1959. Objectivism and the Study of Man, Filosofiske problemer, no. 23. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
———, 1971. Deltagare och åskådare. Sex bidrag till debatten om människans frihet i det moderna samhället. Stockholm: Prisma.
Slagstad, Rune, ed., 1976a. Positivisme, dialektikk, materialisme. Den norske debatten om samfunnsvitenskapenes teori. Oslo, Bergen and Tromsø: Universitetsforlaget.
———, 1976b. ‘Innledning.’ In Slagstad (1976a), pp. 9–82.
Sørbø, Jan Inge, 2002. Hans Skjervheim – ein intellektuell biografi. Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget.
Stadler, Friedrich, 2010. ‘Arne Næss: Dogmas and Problems of Empiricism.’ In Manninen and Stadler (2010), pp. 11–31.
Therborn, Göran, 1969. ‘Från revolutionär teori till akademisk metafysik. Till den kritiska teorins historia, I–II.’ Häften för kritiska studier 5: 13–36 and 6: 21–38.
Thue, Fredrik W., 2006. In Quest of a Democratic Social Order. The Americanization of Norwegian Social Scholarship 1918–1970. Oslo: Faculty of Humanities, University of Oslo.
Tranøy, Knut Erik, 2002. ‘Arne Næss i 90. Filosofi, positivismestrid, etikk.’ Norsk Filosofisk tidsskrift 1–2: 56–63.
Wedberg, Anders, 1968. ‘Om Radnitzkys avhandling.’ Häften för kritiska studier 3: 42–43.
Wiggershaus, Rolf, 1997. Die Frankfurter Schule. Geschichte. Theoretische Entwicklung. Politische Bedeutung. Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag.
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