Saturday, March 27, 2010

Meandering here and there . . .

Today is the birthday of Karl Mannheim (March 27, 1893 – January 9, 1947), social philosopher and sociologist. He is oft referred to as a founder of the sociology of knowledge.

"The thought of every group is seen as arising out of its life conditions." - Karl Mannheim

"As long as one does not call his own position into question but regards it as absolute, while interpreting his opponents' ideas as a mere function of the social positions they occupy, the decisive step forward has not yet been taken." - Karl Mannheim

"There are spheres of thought in which it is impossible to conceive of absolute truth existing independently of the values and position of the subject and unrelated to the social context." - Karl Mannheim

"Human thought arises, and operates, not in a social vacuum but in a definite social milieu." - Karl Mannheim

"At this point in history when all things which concern man and the structure and elements of history itself are suddenly revealed to us in a new light, it behooves us in our scientific thinking to become masters of the situation, for it is not inconceivable that sooner than we suspect, as has often been the case before in history, this vision may disappear, the opportunity may be lost, and the world will once again present a static, uniform, and inflexible countenance." - Karl Mannheim

"All knowledge is oriented toward some object and is influenced in its approach by the nature of the object with which it is pre-occupied. But the mode of approach to the object to be known is dependent upon the nature of the knower." - Karl Mannheim

Mannheim image source (1)

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