Pietism and Science
A Critique of Robert K. Merton's Hypothesis
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2210370 |
|---|---|
| Authors | George Becker (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1984 |
| Volume | 89 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1065-1090 |
| Publication date | 1984-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9602 • E-ISSN: 1537-5390 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/227984 |
| OpenAlex | W2052064581 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
| References cited | 12 |
The rapid rise of Western science over the past four centuries has been attributed by many scholars to the effect of ascetic Protestantism. Robert K. Merton claims for German Pietism an important role in this relationship. An examination of Merton's argument exposes important problem in his research. This investigation of sources either misinterpreted or ignored by Merton not only calls into question his conclusion concerning the relationship between German Pietism and science but also opens discussion on the more general relationship between ascetic Protestantism and science, a relationship that deserves further study
Argument (complex analysis) · Asceticism · Epistemology · German · Pietism · Protestantism · Theology · Attention Economy in Education and Business · Chemistry · Environmental, Ecological, and Cultural Studies · Philosophy · Religious studies · Scientific and Historical Analyses
Exchange, Action, and Social Structure
Educational "Preference" of German Protestants and Catholics
Pietism
Max Weber and the Lutheran Social Congress
The merton thesis
Science and Society in Historical Perspective
The Fallacy of the Latest Word
The Anatomy Lesson
The Sorokin-Merton Correspondence on “Puritanism, Pietism and Science,” 1933–34
The Most Cherished Myth
The Global Institutionalization of Geological Science, 1800 to 1990
The Spectacle of American Conservatism
Religion and Science
Education and society in modern Europe
Pietism as a Factor in the Rise of German Nationalism
Germany Confronts Modernization
Robert Merton’s Formulations in Sociology of Science
Merton Revisited or Science and Society in the Seventeenth Century
Civil War Politics, Religion and the Royal Society
Debate Puritanism, Capitalism and the Scientific Revolution
Puritanism, Capitalism and the Scientific Revolution
Puritanism, Pietism, and Science
Merton's Thesis on English Science1
Intellectual Origins of the English Revolution - Revisited
Ascetic Protestantism and the Development of Science and Technology
| Unique citing works | 13 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,31 |
| Citation span | 1984 - 2019 (36) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 11 |