ABSTRACT
This chapter explains that particular set of borderland problems that has recently been termed the “sociology of knowledge”—a term parallel to “sociology of religion,” “sociology of art,” “sociology of language.” Sociology is primarily concerned with that class of systems which is called “social” (for example, a “social group,” a “social relation”) and with processes which occur within or between such systems. Sociological investigation discovers that there are two kinds of connection between knowledge and social life. On the one hand, upon men’s participation in a certain system of knowledge often depends their participation in some social system and their conduct within the limits. On the other hand, the participation of men in certain social systems often determines (though perhaps not entirely or exclusively) in what systems of knowledge they will participate, and how.
