謝勒名著《知識社會學》一書是謝氏晚期作品中的一份重要典籍。若要較深入地體會其「知識社會學」一辭之義蘊，我們須首先追問三個基本問題：一、謝勒所指的「社會學」為何？二、謝勒所指的「知識」為何？三、謝勒所指的「知識社會學」為何？於此，為了要澄清上述的第二個問題，我們有必要在此分辨謝勒的兩個名詞──「知識」與「認知」──之異同，並藉此指示出：此二辭在意義的差異上致使謝氏在其知識倫的脈絡上分別引申出「知識社會學」與「認知理論」二者。圓融地說，此二者同屬一個整體；分解地言，它們是同一整體中的不同向度、重點、與理論範圍，以致有分別發揮的必要。

　　　　　When we attempt to make a study on Scheler's epistemology, we may be fascinated by the fact that Scheler has made a distinction between "Knowledge" and "Cognition". The meanings of the two words overlap each other; but, they are by no means synonyms. And, the nuance embedded within the two words has enabled Scheler to visualize respectively the main outlines of his "Sociology of Knowledge' and his 'Theory of Cognition'.