Karl Mannheim

Sociology United Kingdom 1893 – 1947 101 quotes

Hungarian-British sociologist who examined ideology, utopias, and the relation between thought and social existence.

Most quoted

"The principal thesis of the sociology of knowledge is that there are modes of thought which cannot be adequately understood as long as their social origins are obscured."

— from Ideology and Utopia, 1929

"The complete elimination of the perspectivistic element in knowledge, together with the factors which condition it, is a Utopian rather than a scientific ideal."

— from Ideology and Utopia, 1929

"The sociology of knowledge does not deny the possibility of acquiring knowledge, but rather seeks to understand the conditions under which it is acquired."

— from Ideology and Utopia, 1929

All quotes by Karl Mannheim (101)

A comeback in debate: Your ideology blinds you more than mine ever could.

Academic debate 1930