A general and systematic account of the role of knowledge in society aimed to stimulate both critical discussion and empirical investigations. This book is concerned with the sociology of 'everything that passes for knowledge in society'. It focuses particularly on that 'common-sense knowledge' which constitutes the reality of everyday life for the ordinary member of society. The authors are concerned to present an analysis of knowledge in everyday life in the context of a theory of society as a dialectical process between objective and subjective reality. Their development of a theory of institutions, legitimations and socializations has implications beyond the discipline of sociology, and their 'humanistic' approach has considerable relevance for other social scientists, historians, philosophers and anthropologists.

关于知识在社会中的作用的一般性和系统性说明，旨在激发批评性讨论和经验性调查。本书关注的是 "社会中的一切知识 "的社会学问题。它特别关注那些构成社会普通成员日常生活现实的 "常识性知识"。作者关注的是，在社会理论的背景下，对日常生活中的知识进行分析，将其视为客观和主观现实之间的辩证过程。他们对制度、合法化和社会化理论的发展具有超越社会学学科的意义，他们的 "人文 "方法对其他社会科学家、历史学家、哲学家和人类学家具有相当的意义。