▁en cyc lopedia ▁on ▁the ▁topic ▁of ▁the ▁" So ci ology ▁of ▁Know ledge ". ▁Par s ons ▁accepted ▁and ▁wrote ▁one ▁of ▁his ▁most ▁powerful ▁ess ays , ▁" The ▁Soci ology ▁of ▁Know ledge ▁and ▁the ▁History ▁of ▁Ide as ", ▁in ▁ 1 9 6 9 ▁or ▁ 1 9 7 0 . ▁Par s ons ▁discussed ▁how ▁the ▁soci ology ▁of ▁knowledge , ▁as ▁a ▁modern ▁intellectual ▁discipline , ▁had ▁emer ged ▁from ▁the ▁dynamics ▁of ▁European ▁intellectual ▁history ▁and ▁had ▁reached ▁a ▁kind ▁of ▁cutting ▁point ▁in ▁the ▁philosophy ▁of ▁Kant ▁and ▁further ▁expl ored ▁by ▁H eg el ▁but ▁reached ▁its ▁first ▁" class ical " ▁form ulation ▁in ▁the ▁writing ▁of ▁Mann heim , ▁whose ▁br ill iance ▁Par s ons ▁acknowled ged ▁but ▁disag re ed ▁with ▁his ▁German ▁historic ism ▁for ▁its ▁ant ip os it iv istic ▁ep ist em ology ; ▁that ▁was ▁largely ▁rejected ▁in ▁the ▁more ▁posit iv istic ▁world ▁of ▁American ▁social ▁science . ▁For ▁various ▁reasons , ▁the ▁edit ors ▁of ▁the ▁en cyc lopedia ▁turned ▁down ▁Par s ons ' ▁ess ay , ▁which ▁did ▁not ▁fit ▁the ▁general ▁format ▁of ▁their ▁volume . ▁The ▁ess ay ▁was ▁not ▁published ▁until ▁ 2 0 0 6 . ▁ ▁Par s ons ▁had ▁several ▁convers ations ▁with ▁Daniel ▁Bell ▁on ▁a ▁" post - indust rial ▁society ", ▁some ▁of ▁which ▁were ▁conducted ▁over ▁l unch ▁at ▁William ▁James ▁Hall . ▁After ▁reading ▁an ▁early ▁version ▁of