KARL MANNHEIMMikayla Trenary

Anthony Shepard

BIOGRAPHY

Born on March 27, 1893 Grew up during the first World War and a

period of unrest and the chaos of revolutions and counterrevolutions.

Met Georg Lukas at the University of Budapest

Attended University of Berlin and studied under Georg Simmel

Mannheim received his doctorate in philosophy in 1918 His dissertation was entitled “The Structural

Analysis of Epistemology”

BIOGRAPHY

Due to further unrest in Hungary, and his life being endangered he stayed in Hungary until 1920 but later ended up at the University of Heidelberg. It was here were he began to focus on Sociology

He later appointed as a professor at the University of Frankfurt in 1927 and taught sociology and economics During this time he wrote his best known work “Ideology

and Utopia”(1929) Hitler and Nazi party forced him out of the

University of Frankfurt and he later arrived in London and had a teaching position at the London School of Economics

He taught for 12 years here and passed away on January 9, 1947 due to a heart attack

INTELLECTUAL INFLUENCES

Georg Lukacs He demonstrated the general value of the

sociological method in all fields of history He showed that Marx was the only one who truly

grasped Hegel’s idea of self-alienation G.W.F Hegel

His influence made Mannheim view history as a structure and dynamic process

Georg Simmel Mannheim was influenced by Simmel’s use of the

distinction between objective and subjective culture, especially in terms of how culture is transmitted to each historical actor

INTELLECTUAL INFLUENCES Max Weber

Utilized the historic method to study behavior must be accompanied by some explanation and understanding as to why humans acts always seem to involve specific purposes, motives, and values of the actors concerned

Mannheim used this approach to explain how knowledge was spread “sociology of knowledge”

Karl Marx Marx directly influenced Mannheim’s utopian views Mannheim’s view on historicism are tied to Marx’s idea

that ways of thinking are tied to ways of doing Positivism

The positivist technique is the truest approach in sociology

Mannheim wanted his “sociology of knowledge” to be scientific, however he was also committed to understanding the meaning of behavior. This strayed him from the positivist view.

He embraced a more methodological pluralism

CONCEPTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

The Sociology of Knowledge: Definition- “as theory it seeks to analyze the

relationship between knowledge and existence” Manheim argued that ideas come from multiple

sources but concluded that the most significant source of cultural ideas lies with social class

Mannheim’s primary goals was to determine the link between thought and action In other words the way one thinks is dependent on

more than just that person, it is also dependent on the society in which one grew up as well as the thought processes as those that came prior

CONCEPTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Historicism: Reflects both German idealism in general,

and German historiography. (society is what it is because of it’s history)

The goal of a historicism researcher is to remain value free when conducting social research and not to introduce their predefined ideas and categories in studies

CONCEPTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Ideology and Utopia: Mannheim is concerned with “how one actually

thinks” In general one’s social position impacts their

behavior and if one is in an advantageous position they will want to maintain the status quo; if one is in a less fortunate social position it would be in their best interest to support social change

Ideology is a set of ideas, doctrines, and opinions that justifies a social structure (Mannheim used the term ideology to characterize the ideas that support the status quo)

Mannheim used the word utopia to describe the complex web of ideas that favored social change

CONCEPTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Ideology and Utopia: Two types of Ideology:

Particular ideologies involve systems of knowledge that hide and distort the truth

Total ideologies are systems of knowledge tied to the social/historic place in time that one resides in

CONCEPTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS Utopian Mentality- described by Mannheim as a

state of mind that “is incongruous with the state of reality within which it occurs.” Utopian Mentality went through four stages:

1. Orgiastic chiliasm of the Anabaptitists: lower classes of the post medieval period gradually become aware of their own social and political significance; but still far removed from proletarian self-consciousness

2. Liberal-Humanitarian Idea: characterized by the conception of utilizing rational thought to offset evil. (represents the importance of the idea in human mental development

3. The Conservative Idea: has no real utopian value, comes about in reaction to the previous liberal stage of development, maintaining the status quo, and embracing those things found in the past

4. Socialist-Communist Utopia: the goal is overthrow the existing social structure and the creation of a classless society

CONCEPTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Diagnosis of Our Time: A collection of essays that were written in

war time, Mannheim presented a sociological analysis

He believed that society was “taken ill” by war and power struggles and he questioned “how do we cure this disease”

CONCEPTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Planned Social Reconstruction: He was careful to point out that a planned society

must not suppress individuals’ criticism of society, for complete suppression would produce far more negative results

A specific example of Mannheim’s planned reconstruction of society involved the economic policy of laissez-fare. He did not view it as a viable alternative in the modern

world because this type of system invites chaos He argued that large modern societies must have

economic controls in planning It was now a choice between rational and irrational

forms of planning

CONCEPTS AND CONTRIBUTIONSRationalism and Irrationalism: Mannheim argues that a society in which the rational

habits of thought are unevenly distributed is bound to unstable and subject to chaos.

The trick in proper rational leadership is to provide stability while simultaneously allowing for acceptable levels of irrational behavior Substantial Rationality- a thought which reveals intelligent

insight into the inter-relations of events in a given situation. Example- a normal thought

Substantial Irrationality- everything else that is false or not an act of thought at all

Example- a drive, impulses, wishes, and feelings Functionally Rational-must be organized in such a way that they

lead to a pre-determined goal or calculable and efficient Example- a common soldier is someone who abides by a system

where he does not think but follows orders Functionally Irrational- everything which breaks through and

disrupts functional ordering Example- non-productive behavior such as committing acts of violence

CONCEPTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

The Intelligentsia: Elites within the planned society framework Mannheim claims they are not a class, they

are ideologues. They are a classless aggregation that are not superior to others but are more capable of action that members of other strata cannot

The intelligentsia can assist in the reconstruction of society. They can help modify and create new social policies designed to assist the rational transformation of society.

They also posses the unique ability to attach themselves to the various levels of the social strata.

CONCEPTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Sociology of Education: Mannheim felt strongly about the role of

education as a way of dealing with the crisis of transformation.

Education serves as primary role of assimilating the next generation to the culture norms of society

To overcome overspecialization, Mannheim argues that both teachers and students must become more knowledgeable about sociology, because only sociology offers the comprehensive perspective of social events and issues

RELEVANCY

He is generally credited with creating a major subfield of sociology named the “sociology of knowledge.”

With his work on historicism he demonstrated how ideologies originate from many sources all of which are products of past and present behavior.

His ideas on ideology and utopia are really contemporary versions of the study of social stability and social change

RELEVANCY

The fact is, all societies, democratic or authoritarian, utilize planned social reconstruction; it is the primary function of government

CRITICISMS

Mannheim’s “sociology of knowledge” was at times inconsistent and contradictory Believed that the sociology of knowledge could

emerge only during an historical period characterized by social instability and lack of agreement over worldviews. Yet, it is argued that we could find sociology of knowledge during times of peace.

His whole view of society changed a lot due to the world wars and unrest that he lived through.