Value vs. Truth in the History of Thinking

Reviews the book, The Sociology of Knowledge: An Essay in Aid of a Deeper Understanding of the History of Ideas by Werner Stark (1958). Stark's purpose, obviously, in writing this work, was to put to rest, finally, that most interesting and important question: Is there any correlation between the social order under which a given set of men live and the system of knowledge, thought and culture which they develop? Inspired by Max Weber, Dr Stark tries to show that the sociology of knowledge can throw as much constructive light on the origins of truth as it can negatively point to truth-destroying ideological influences arising from real life itself. The author himself is conscious of certain inadequacies for the giant task before him. In his gigantic work, he covers the philosophy of Karl Mannheim, Nietzche, Marx. Bergson. and Pareto, as well as the works of other "greats" in history, economics and sociology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)