Special Issue on What Is Living and What Is Dead of The Positivist Dispute? Fifty Years Later, A Debate

The 1961 Tagung der deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie (Conference of the German Society of Sociology) in Tübingen, Germany, was the occasion for what was to become the renown sociological and philosophical debate known as the Positivist Dispute between the so-called Critical Rationalists (Karl Popper, Hans Albert) and the Frankfurt School (Theodor W. Adorno, J. Habermas). A lot of water has passed under the bridge since this debate took place. Historical, cultural and scientific events have drastically changed the subject matter and the lan- guage of the social sciences. Over the last 50 years, we have experienced dramatic devel- opments that have influenced both the philosophical/epistemological agenda and the political debate. Nevertheless, the Positivismusstreit was one of the last occasions when we had a discussion of the close links between theory and methodology in the social sciences. Today’s scenario seems to be missing that pathos of synthesis. Since then, the social sciences have progressively withdrawn into the confines of ‘business as usual’, with no emancipatory intent. Sociology has entered a post-disciplinary age: Cultural boundaries are being transgressed and shifted. Even if we live in an age of epistemological freedom and creativity, the social sciences run the risk of closing themselves off in an illusory disciplinary conformism or being conceived of as a mere assemblage of techniques. On the other hand, social theory seems to be isolated and hence to have less influence on the processes of empirical research. Now, more than 50 years later, with a spirit of his- torical-systematic reconstruction and an eye to re-actualizing and revitalizing this still meaningful dispute, we would like to take a reappraising look at the Positivismusstreit.