ABSTRACT
The pragmatism that is formulated by Nietzsche in aphorisms becomes relevant to the theory of science: All science and every formation of ideas disguise the 'will to power', and in this sense it can be argued that all science is ideology. Mannheim's theory of ideology has an historical basis, and evident the lasting influence of Hegel's thought in Germany. One of the symptoms of the present crisis in science is the tendency to interpret scientific systems as ideologies. The ideologies are a fascinating and important area of scientific study, but they are not themselves the science. The sociology of knowledge considers the prevailing historical and factual form of science as a variable which is functionally dependent upon social conditions in a particular epoch and stratum. The sociology of knowledge is not the theory of science, as it claims to be, but rather always already presupposes the idea and the meaning of knowledge as such.
