ABSTRACT
Perhaps the main difference between the sociologist's approach to questions concerning the nature of knowledge and that of the philosopher can be stated as follows: the latter will be concerned with asking questions about the very possibility of knowing anything at all and about logical differences between different kinds of knowledge claim, whereas the sociologist will look at the differences that can be socially explained, and of organizing this knowledge, either between our society and another, or within society. Basil Bernstein (1971) has noted that ‘How a society selects, classifies, distributes, transmits and evaluates the educational knowledge it considers to be public, reflects both the distribution of power and the principles of social control.‘
