ABSTRACT
The collapse of the liberal-capitalist system during the 1930s, furthermore, necessitated a complete revision of democratic values and educational practices. Karl Mannheim’s interest in education and valuation is of long standing, but his wartime essays represent original contributions to the sociology of education, the sociology of religion, and the sociology of values which stress the functional interdependence of these social forces. The existing educational system creates inhibitions and suppresses the development of personal autonomy and intelligent judgment. The value grounds of everyday life in a democratically planned society include additional ‘basic virtues such as decency, mutual help, honesty and social justice, which can be brought home through education and social influence’. The ‘integral concept’ of education demands that the realities and requirements of life become part of the academic process of knowledge distribution. People who recognize society as an educational agent will come to realize that the social sciences are agents of education.
