The Three Merton Theses

Bibliographic Data

ID2404577
AuthorsVidar Enebakk (University of Oslo, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume7
Issue2
Pages221-238
Publication date2007-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Classical Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1468-795X • E-ISSN: 1741-2897
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1468795x07078040
OpenAlexW2110874705
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited25

In this article I examine the historical background to Merton's formulation of the scientific ethos, especially in relation to his dissertation, published in 1938 as Science, Technology and Society in Seventeenth-Century England. Here Merton outlined the so-called 'Merton thesis', and I emphasize how both the content and the context of the monograph is related to his formulation of an 'ethos of science' - introduced for the first time in 1938 in 'Science and the Social Order'. Three different readings can, however, highlight different aspects of Merton's monograph, thus the article attempts to enrich the understanding both of the ethos of science and of Merton as a politically engaged social scientist by discussing 'The Three Merton Theses

Context (archaeology · Epistemology · Ethos · Order (exchange · Political science · Relation (database · Social science · Sociology · Sociology of scientific knowledge · Computer Science · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · History · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Pragmatism in Philosophy and Education