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The Dilemma of Relativism in the Sociology of Knowledge
Ist Teil von
Annali di Sociologia/Soziologisches Jahrbuch, 1987-01, p.65-94
Erscheinungsjahr
1987
Link zum Volltext
Quelle
Sociological Abstracts
Beschreibungen/Notizen
The contribution made by sociology of knowledge to the development of an understanding of cognition is explored, focusing on the issue of correspondence between the subjectivized & objectivized aspects of knowledge. In Karl Mannheim's view, cognition is a process motivated & predetermined by the existing social conditions. According to Max Scheler, cognition is quintessentially a relativist process. Both approaches lead to the absolutization of relative knowledge, which results in ontological paradoxes. To overcome this difficulty, an approach is suggested under which the individual is conceived as a social actor, influenced by his process of cognition, but also able to modify it at will. The social actor, therefore, emerges as a mediator of social knowledge, allowing the retention of relativism as a basic principle, but moderated by the shared social setting. As a result, typical patterns of cognition can be elicited that account for individual behaviors as well as for specific manifestations of views & cognitive strategies in a given epoch. 12 References. M. Polinsky