The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge

Peter L. Berger · Thomas Luckmann

Apr 2011 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

A watershed event in the field of sociology, this text introduced “a major breakthrough in the sociology of knowledge and sociological theory generally” (George Simpson, American Sociological Review).
 In this seminal book, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann examine how knowledge forms and how it is preserved and altered within a society. Unlike earlier theorists and philosophers, Berger and Luckmann go beyond intellectual history and focus on commonsense, everyday knowledge—the proverbs, morals, values, and beliefs shared among ordinary people. When first published in 1966, this systematic, theoretical treatise introduced the term social construction,effectively creating a new thought and transforming Western philosophy.

Ratings and reviews

This book earns two stars only because of the impact it has had on the fields of Sociology and Philosophy. The book relies heavily on thinkers such as Freud, Marx, and Hegel to justify itself yet does not feel obliged to defend its use of these thinkers. Given how Freud is largely dismissed in the psychological community, and the philosophies of Marx and Hegel are highly contentious, I wish the author had done more to defend his arguments. Rather he goes about making claims about human nature and society and citing these (and other) highly contentious figures (incl. Weber and Durkheim). Examples include his reliance on Freud for his analysis of human sexuality and his flat out rejection of "realism" by simply saying it doesn't work. Both these and other claims are hardly obvious facts and should be backed up. As it stands to me the book is influential but largely devoid of any justification for his theories. More specific and well grounded work on social construction can be found in Gergen's books. Gergen does a much better job of providing a strong philosophical underpinning for these theories.

About the author

Peter L. Berger (1929–2017) was an award-winning scholar and author and one of the most important modern American sociologists. Berger graduated from Wagner College in New York in 1949 before receiving his master’s degree and doctorate from The New School in New York in 1950 and 1954, respectively. Berger was a professor emeritus of religion, sociology, and theology at the University of Boston and director of the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture, which studies relationships between economic development and sociocultural change. Berger’s works include Invitation to Sociology (1963), The Social Construction of Reality (1966) with Thomas Luckmann, The Sacred Canopy (1967), and A Rumor of Angels (1969).
 Thomas Luckmann (b. 1927) studied sociology at the University of Vienna and the University of Innsbruck in Austria before studying at The New School in New York. He has taught at the University of Konstanz in Germany, and Harvard, Yale, and Stanford Universities, among others.