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Karl Mannheim

Ideology And Utopia: An Introduction to the Sociology of Knowledge Paperback – February 5, 2015

by Karl Mannheim (Author), Louis Wirth (Translator), Edward Shils (Translator)

4.1 44 ratings

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2015 Reprint of Original 1936 American Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Karl Mannheim was a Hungarian-born sociologist, influential in the first half of the 20th century and one of the founding fathers of classical sociology as well as a founder of the sociology of knowledge. His essays on the sociology of knowledge have become classics in the field. In "Ideology and Utopia" he argued that the application of the term ideology ought to be broadened. He traced the history of the term from what he called a "particular" view. This view originally saw ideology as the perhaps deliberate obscuring of facts. Over time this view gave way to a "total" conception (most notably in Marx), which argued that a whole social group's thought was formed by its social position (e.g. the proletariat's beliefs were conditioned by their relationship to the means of production). However, he called for a further step, which he called a general total conception of ideology, in which it was recognized that everyone's beliefs-including the social scientist's-were a product of the context they were created in. Mannheim points out social class, location and generation as the greatest determinants of knowledge. He feared this could lead to relativism but proposed the idea of relationism as an antidote. To uphold the distinction, he maintained that the recognition of different perspectives according to differences in time and social location appears arbitrary only to an abstract and disembodied theory of knowledge.

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Martino Fine Books
Publication date

February 5, 2015
Dimensions

6.14 x 0.79 x 9.21 inches
ISBN-10

1614277729
ISBN-13

978-1614277729
Lexile measure

1390L
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Karl Mannheim
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Paperback
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Martino Fine Books (February 5, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1614277729
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1614277729
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1390L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.19 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.79 x 9.21 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #909,466 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,233 in Communism & Socialism (Books)
- #3,394 in History & Theory of Politics
- #43,010 in Literary Fiction (Books)

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4.1 44 ratings

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pris

Complex sentence structure, but makes concepts available to grasp

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 19, 2013

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This was so complicated! I had to read it twice, but once I understood it, it has valuable things to say. It definitely helps one distinguish between the ideology and the utopia. I will say, he tends to be a bit repetitive toward the beginning-- it could be helpful at first, but after three paragraphs of the same information all I could think was "okay i get it...."

2 people found this helpful

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Blackarse

Modern Classic

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 2, 2013

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A very honest and scholarly assessment of the problems in the modern world. It is very much about a social science but is not difficult to read. However it does not have any easy answers, just an idea about the process that could be followed.

4 people found this helpful

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Jim M

Review of the edition NOT the book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 9, 2012

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Kessenger's travesty of an edition, thankfully, no longer appears among the list of currently available Amazon offerings. I leave my review in place, however, in case the thing should attempt to come back to life. I have moved a few brief remarks (somewhat amplified) on the substance of Mannheim's ideas from the last paragraph to the following paragraph in celebration of the Kessenger edition's falling off the earth--or, at least out of Amazon.

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']. One of Mannheim's central points is that one's sense of what is and is not, realizable in the world has more to do with the nature of his own socially structured thinking than with the limits imposed upon mankind by what is timelessly and objectively possible. Mannheim does not doubt that such limits exist, but he suggests the word: 'utopian', when employed as an epithet, can reveal more about the speaker's position in life and political orientation than it does about the opponent's loss of a practable sense of reality. Another of Mannheim's points is that utopian thought, which he defines as thinking that transcends the bounds of the existing order, seemingly is, to humanity's loss, actually disappearing. This disappearance ushers in a world that no longer, even in part, orients itself toward possibilities of transcendence to a higher historical and sociological stage.

Mannheim's sense of the loss of utopian aspirations harmonizes compatibly with Critical Theorist Herbert Marcuse's notion of the squelching of dialectical oppositions in the contemporary social universe as leading to mankind's existence being confined to a single dimension--cf that author's One Dimensional Man.

[BELOW IS A RETURN TO THE REVIEW OF THE APPARENTLY NOW-DEFUNCT KESSINGER EDITION]
The publishers of the Kessenger 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.

8 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 12, 2016

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Everything is OK, except very small print )

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 5, 2015

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received as promised

One person found this helpful

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Lindsay JWK

Don't get this version

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 23, 2021

Verified Purchase

A photocopy, which honestly I could handle but there are so many marks on the book they copied that it is rough.

It's pretty funny that the back says it's been completely typeset, that it's not a photocopy and that it doesn't have any marks in it. A+ troll.

Two stars because it is a book. Which is what I wanted.

One person found this helpful

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abdeslam

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 25, 2015

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EXCELLENT

One person found this helpful

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Prime Customer

On edition, not content

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 29, 2013

Verified Purchase

The copy quality of this is poor with lots of stray marks and some of the pages are really hard to read because of it. I was interested in the work and purchased this copy because it had an interesting looking cover and was Prime eligible, but would recommend purchasing another version.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

AK

New book, arrived in great condition.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 24, 2023

Verified Purchase

New book. Looks like a facsimile reproduction, in paperback. The type is large enough for me to read. If you want classic sociology, this is the book for you. Of course, it will take reading: this is not a beach type book.

Marie-H. Fortier

great

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 26, 2020

Verified Purchase

Helped me understand a lot

Peyman ADL DOUSTI HAGH

In the Name of Iran

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 3, 2014

Verified Purchase

Sometimes, it is hard to understand him what he is trying to say. It is evident that he believes there is no such a thing as a utopia. He is focused on idea of 2+2=4.

Kelvin Kaufman

Waste of a dollar

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 13, 2014

Verified Purchase

Unedited and uncorrected OCR. Waste of a dollar!

P. Schumacher

kindle version is a scan turned sideways

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 8, 2021

Verified Purchase

kindle version is a scan turned sideways ... totally unacceptable ... this should be immediatly withdrawn and all customers should be reimbursed

One person found this helpful

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Ideology And Utopia: An Introduction to the Sociology of Knowledge Paperback – February 5, 2015

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