--- title: Robert K. Merton author: Ryan Schram date: June 9, 2025 bibliography: /mnt/volume_nyc3_01/cyborg.rschram.org/data/bibliographies/cyber.yaml csl: /mnt/volume_nyc3_01/cyborg.rschram.org/data/csl/chicago-17.csl --- Robert Merton is an important figure in early 20th century sociology, an era in which sociology is devoted to creating a positive science of society. He is a student of Talcott Parsons, and reflects that drive to positivism. Merton is strongly influenced by Parsons's theory of society as a functionally integrated system of specialized systems.[^catch] [^catch]: Interestingly, and a testament to his influence, Merton's ideas are so wide-ranging that some of his coinages have become catchphrases, like "role model" and "self-fulfilling prophecy." Merton also turns to a sociology of science. He sees science as a specialized kind of social institution within a larger social system and one characterized by a certain degree of autonomy, governed by its own internal normative order [@merton_normative_1942]. Unlike many other sociologists of science who came in his wake Merton is committed to the idea that science is a distinctive historical innovation. In this respect, his argument about science is similar to Weber's thesis about the origins of capitalism in Europe. Just as Weber argued that certain cultural values---formed at a specific point in European history and institutionalized in Protestant Christianity---laid the groundwork for capitalism, Merton also argues that a cluster of social norms and values create the preconditions for institutionally specialized scientific inquiry, ideally a pursuit that is value-free and independent of other social forces. ::: {.refs} ## References :::