Oppenheimer, Franz (1864–1943)

Franz Oppenheimer, a German sociologist, practiced as a physician in Berlin for many years, after which he took up the study of economics while supporting himself by writing articles. In 1909, he became a privatdozent (an unsalaried lecturer who received only students' fees) of economics at the University of Berlin. Ten years later, he became a full professor of economics and sociology at the University of Frankfurt, where he taught until ill health forced him to retire in 1929.

Oppenheimer disagreed with those neo-Kantians who claimed that the science of sociology should eschew value judgments and deal only with facts. Oppenheimer, while acknowledging the difference between facts and values, [Page 365]argued that some evaluations can be objectively justified, and this position enabled him to employ the ...