Editing Sociology of knowledge (section)

== History ==

=== The Enlightenment ===
Peter Hamilton argues that the thinkers of [[The Englightenment|the Enlightenment]] produced a sociology of ideas and values when they turned their attention to the scientific analysis of society.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Peter |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/891399700 |title=Knowledge and social structure : an introduction to the classical argument in the sociology of knowledge |date=2015 |isbn=978-1-315-75804-6 |location=Oxfordshire, England |oclc=891399700}}</ref>{{Rp|page=1}} He argues that specific values inherent in [[critical rationalism]], such as [[anthropocentrism]] (i.e., the assumption that humans are the most crucial element in understanding reality), were central to these thinkers' understanding of society. Hamilton argues that these thinkers were committed to progress and the freedom of the individual to determine his own beliefs and values, which are at odds with traditional moral considerations in [[theology]]. The empirical method of [[cross-cultural comparison]] became a methodology for understanding society rather than the idea of [[revealed truth]] inherent in sociology, leading to a measure of [[cultural relativism]].<ref name=":0" />

He argues that some thinkers sought to change society based on their theories. These ideas play out in the [[French Revolution]] with its [[Reign of Terror]].<ref name=":0" /> Hamilton argues that the Enlightenment can be seen as a critical response to the Christian theology used by [[Jacobins (religious order)|the Jacobins]], which manipulated people's understanding of truth to maintain a feudal order.<ref name=":0" />

=== Earlier viewpoints ===
The sociology of knowledge requires a particular viewpoint that [[Giambattista Vico]] first expounded in his [[The New Science|''New Science'']] in the early 18th century, long before the first sociologists studied the relationship between knowledge and society. The book, a justification for a new historical and sociological methodology, suggests that the natural and social worlds are known in different ways. The former is known through external or empirical methods, while the latter can be known internally and externally. In other words, human history is a construct that creates a critical epistemological distinction between the natural and social worlds, a central concept in the social sciences. Primarily focused on [[Historicism|historical methodology]], Vico asserts that it is necessary to move beyond a chronicle of events to study a society's history. He examined society's cultural elements, which were termed the "civil world". This "civil world", made up of actions, thoughts, ideas, myths, norms, religious beliefs, and institutions, is the product of the human mind. These socially constructed elements can be better understood than the physical world, as it is in abstraction. Vico highlights that human nature and its products are not fixed entities. Therefore, it necessitates a historical perspective emphasizing the changes and developments implicit in individuals and societies. He also emphasizes the dialectical relationship between society and culture as key in this new historical perspective.<ref name=":0" />

While permeated by his penchant for etymology, Vico's ideas and a theory of cyclical history (''corsi e ricorsi),'' are significant for the underlying premise about our understanding and knowledge of social structure. They are dependent upon the ideas and concepts we employ and the language used. Vico was primarily unknown in his own time. He was the first to establish the foundations of a sociology of knowledge, even though later writers did not necessarily pick up his concepts. There is evidence that [[Montesquieu]] and [[Karl Marx]] read Vico's work. However, the similarities in their works are superficial, limited mainly to the overall conception of their projects. They were characterized by cultural relativism and historicism.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}