Ideology and Utopia: An Introduction to the Sociology of Knowledge [Paperback]

Karl Mannheim (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 1955

Mannheim, a pioneer in the field of SOCIOLOGY (740), here analyzes the ideologies that are used to stabilize a social order and the wish-dreams that are employed when any transformation of that same order is attempted. Translated and with a Foreword by Louis Wirth and Edward Shils; Preface by Wirth; Indices.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation)

About the Author

Karl Mannheim was born in Budapest. He was the only child of a Hungarian father and a German mother. After graduation from the humanistic gymnasium in Budapest, he studied in Berlin, Budapest, Paris, and Freiburg. His professors included Lukacs and Edmund Husserl... Despite an early interest in philosophy, Mannheim turned to the human sciences, coming to be influenced by the thought of Weber and Marx. In 1925 he came to the major intellectual center in Germany, the University of Heidelberg, where he habilitated as an unsalaried lecturer.  

  The modern classic Ideology and Utopia: An Introduction to the Sociology of Knowledge was published before Mannheim fled the Nazis.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; 1 edition (August 4, 1955)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156439557
• ISBN-13: 978-0156439558
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #247,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A difficult, dense read--but certainly profound, January 26, 2006

By 

Zadig Prospero "Ken" (NW Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ideology and Utopia: An Introduction to the Sociology of Knowledge (Paperback)

Perhaps it was the translation, perhaps it is the author's inherent style, or perhaps it is just too academic but I found this very tedious. That does not stop me from endorsing the material though I reduced my rating based on the fact that this is hardly an enjoyable read and a downright unaccessable read (because of its dense, academic style) for of the vast majority of the public. Nonetheless (is that even a real word?), if one can slog through the first several chapters, Mannheim's attempt to identify the motivations and devices of knowledge and ideology create a esoteric bridge linking this achievement with Aristotle's "Metaphysics", Locke's "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding", and later continued with Foucault's "The Archaeology of Knowledge". This is also an important piece when examined in the historical and geo-political context which existed in the 1920s. I would label this as "neccesary" reading for any graduate sociology student, any self-annointed philosopher, or anyone with extreme time on their hands--such as the incarcerated. (For more on that subject read the chapters by Foucault entitled "Panopticism" and "The Carceral".)

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars AWFUL PRINT, November 18, 2007

By 

D. Valatsas "dv" (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Ideology And Utopia: An Introduction To The Sociology Of Knowledge (Paperback)

There is a warning on the first page that this might be a bad print, but I'd love it if I had known before buying it.... All the pages on the right side are messed up, first letters in each sentence missing.
The book is good for its content, but I'd rather buy a used edition

6 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The leading discipline of the sociology, January 27, 2004

By 

Masahiko OKAZAKI (Kochi, JAPAN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ideology and Utopia: An Introduction to the Sociology of Knowledge (Paperback)

This translation is not correct as compared with the German version, which uses more abstract terms. However, it doesn�ft mean its content is less correct. I like this translation more than the German version because it is easier to read.
This book consists of three articles and the prelude. The first chapter is the same as the title of this book and the most interesting. It explains the term of the ideology in the context of the history of the epistemology. This term was derived from Marxism, which exposes the ideal as the legitimization of the individual interest to invalidate it. The sociological explanation inspired by this method, ironically speaking, makes the ontological existence of the class by Marxism relative as the historical production, and regards it as the particular epistemology determined by the history. It is succeeded by the Max Weber�fs concept of the stratification, which means the epistemological constitution of the subject of the analysis.
This article�fs aim is to make the concept of the ideology of Marxism more useful by generalizing it. The thesis that the consciousness doesn�ft determine the social conditions, but that the social conditions do the consciousness applies to anybody without any exceptions. Therefore, this thought is named as �ethe sociology of the knowledge�f or consciousness.
The necessary for readers is the knowledge of the basic modern epistemology and the basic Marxism. After reading it, we will locate the thought of Plato, Kant, Hegel, Marx, and Weber under the appropriate historical context and find �ethe situational determination �e is the primary leading discipline of the sociology.