High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Rules and Meanings is an anthology of readings in cultural anthropology and the sociology of knowledge, edited by Mary Douglas and first published by Penguin Books in 1973 in their series Penguin Modern Sociology Readings. The full title is Rules and Meanings: The Anthropology of Everyday Knowledge. Selected Readings. The background to the selection and the treatment of the 45 excerpts provided was a course on cognitive anthropology taught by Douglas at University College London. She not only selected the readings, but also provided a general introduction to the volume and a brief introduction to each of the eight sections. The theme running throughout is that "reality is socially constructed".