Avoiding Mannheim’s Paradox when Thinking about Ideology

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to question the possibility of a critique of the ideological phenomenon. The difficulty of such a task is obvious when the researcher that questions the ideological problem discovers that some data of his or her thinking can be labeled also as ideological. Therefore, if we admit that among our own judgments some are ideological, then the critique of ideology presupposes an investigation of the metaphysical assumptions that constitute the background of our thinking. The hardship of discussing about ideology within its own framework is called the Mannheim’s paradox. Our purpose is to argue that a discussion about ideology is attainable in a hermeneutic setting, avoiding Mannheim’s paradox.