Education for Political Life

Through a detailed reading of Karl Mannheims early explorations in the sociology of knowledge, this book argues for Mannheim's relevance to contemporary social and political philosophy. During a time in which critical social and political philosophy is concerned with relating thought to its historical conditionsa trend seen, for example, in standpoint epistemology and the recent resurgence of ideology critiqueMannheims sociology of knowledge emphasizes the need for such a project to combine its sociohistorical analyses with reflexive self-examination. In this way, Mannheim contends with critical social thoughts tendency to obscure its own perspective. Beginning with the criticism of neo-Kantian and positivist epistemologies found in Mannheims interwar German works, Education for Political Life: Critique, Theory, and Practice in Karl Mannheims Sociology of Knowledge reconstructs his struggle for theoretical and practical orientation amidst this periods crisis of life and thought. The treatment of Mannheims innovative blend of phenomenology and Marxist social theory found here deepens an appreciation of the sociology of knowledges philosophical vision by calling attention to this projects interwoven subjective and objective dimensions. This allows us to better understand the function of philosophical critique in Mannheims work, as well as his location of this function in the intellectual stratum. Mannheims conception of intellectuals dedicated to inner-outer orientation is one of the most distinctive and problematic aspects of his sociology of knowledge. For this reason, this books philosophical reconstruction necessitates an internal criticism of Mannheims sociology of knowledge, showing how the insights developed in this research program provide the best standard with which to assess its strengths and limitations.