IDEOLOGICAL CRITICISM, OR REMOVING IDEOLO GY FROM SOCIETY - MANNHEIM,KARL AND ELIAS,NORBERT

Although the relationship between Karl Mannheim and Norbert Elias appe ars to have been one of unquestioning mutual harmony, it was in realit y one characterized by a conglomerate of inconsistencies, one may even say concealed hostilities. And yet unity of purpose can be found in t hat principle which for each uniquely distinguishes their collaboratio n at university, their friendly contacts, and their academic research work, which shared a common direction. The relationship between Karl M annheim and Norbert Elias proves on all levels to have been dominated by their will to maintain as great a distance as possible from one ano ther, no matter how closely their paths may have come together, This i s most clearly illustrated when a comparison is made of their academic approaches. It is true that the intentions of Mannheim and Elias conv erged in the idea of exposing the social and historical constraints in the formation of mental constructs; but this convergence served only to further accentuate the differences between the two men. While Mannh eim was still carrying out cognitive criticism in the guise of empiric al research work, Elias came to apply such ideological, and hence cogn itive, criticism (including the demonstration of the transcendental-lo gical bases of mental constructs) in the opposite direction, namely as a means of determining causal relationships.