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; 1st Harvest Edition edition (August 4, 1955)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156439557
• ISBN-13: 978-0156439558
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,617 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 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

Format: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".)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Review of the edition NOT the book June 8, 2012

By Jim M

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The publishers of this edition are arrant idiots. The book, in its authentic form, is a landmark collection of essays by Karl Mannheim which was first published in German under the title "Ideologie und Utopie." Kessinger Publishing, LLC has mis-titled this volume by inserting the word "An" in front of the translated words: "Ideology and Utopia." They have done this either because members of Kessinger's editorial staff do not know the real title or, more likely, because they figure that such insertion insures that their caricature will appear before any of the authentically titled versions on an Amazon search. For that reason alone this edition would deserve to be avoided--even if that left no alternative but to learn German and read the original. There are alternatives however. These range in price from dirt cheap for a used umpteenth printing to sky high for a collectible edition. Take your pick of those, I advise, but do not choose this Kessinger travesty.

The work itself (in a respectable edition) stands as a highly readable and much discussed introduction to a specialized branch of sociology known as the sociology of knowledge. The two principal exponents of this specialized study are Mannheim and Max Scheler. A search on their names will produce an intriguing list of titles available on Amazon, but "Ideology and Utopia" is the right place to begin for anyone not already familiar with the literature. (Also, worth considering is the volume: "From Karl Mannheim" which contains selections from a broad range of Mannheim's writings together with editors' and translator's introductions that set forth the development and the interpretive tradition of Mannheim's body of work.) "Ideology and Utopia" includes a twenty page preface by Louis Wirth (one of its translators) which well serves the intention of acquainting an English speaking audience with the basics of Mannheim's approach.

Today, the term 'Utopian' is achieving a new currency--this time as an element in the conservative characterization of left wing political ideas. Such reappearance of the concept of 'utopia' within the contemporary ideological contest makes it very timely to visit (or revisit) Mannheim's classic work of critique and analysis in which the originality of the author's contribution consists precisely in his juxtaposing the idea of 'utopian' to 'ideological' rather than, as is usual, to 'realistic' [or to 'realizable'].

The following quote from one of the essays in "Ideology and Utopia" suggests (but does not fully encompass) Mannheim's idea of both the limitations on human thought and the possibilities for its advancement--"Strictly speaking it is incorrect to say that the single individual thinks. Rather it is more correct to insist that he participates in thinking further what other men have thought before him."

On the bottom line: consider the author; experience the work; but avoid the edition.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars AWFUL PRINT November 18, 2007

By dv

Format: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