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Agassi, Sztompka, Kincaid, and Crothers argue, in various ways, that Merton should not be held responsible for his published views on theory construction, and they provide psychological or strategic explanations for his failure to resolve issues with these views. I argue that this line of defense is unnecessary. A better case for Merton would be that theories in his middle-range sense were a nontechnical alternative solution to the problem of spurious correlation. Middle-range theory was not, however, a solution to the problem of diverse approaches. Merton also did not resolve the problems with his account of functionalism, and the problems undermine the claim that he had a distinctive "structural" approach all along.

Stephen Turner complains about weaknesses of Robert K. Merton's teachings without noticing that these are common. He puts down Merton's ideas despite his innovations, on the ground that they are not successful and not sufficiently revolutionary. The criteria by which he condemns Merton are too vague and too high. Merton's merit is in his having put the sociology of science on the map and drawn attention to the egalitarianism that was prominent in classical science and that is now diminished.

The Case for Reintroducing Merton -- "1930s: The Harvard Years" (Jugendschriften) -- Early Years at Columbia -- Middle Years at Columbia -- Later Years -- Reprise: Merton as Discipline-builder, Theorist, Substantive Sociologist and Moralist -- Merton the Man, His Operational Code, and Influences.

Robert King Merton (1910 - 2003) gilt heute längst als Klassiker der Soziologie. Er kann als der bedeutendste Soziologe der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts und als Wegbereiter einer modernen Soziologie bezeichnet werden, die das konstitutive Verhältnis von soziologischer Theorie und empirischer Forschung ins Zentrum des Interesses gerückt hat. Aufgrund seiner Beiträge zur Sozialtheorie, zur Begriffsbildung in der Soziologie und seiner vielfältigen inhaltlichen und empirischen Arbeiten spielt Merton bis heute eine bedeutende Rolle in der Soziologie als wissenschaftlicher Disziplin. Der InhaltIntellektuelle Einflüsse und wissenschaftliche Laufbahn.- Der soziologische Blick.- Robert Mertons Konzeption der Soziologie.- Von der funktionalen zur strukturellen Analyse.- Soziologische Analysen.- Robert Mertons Sozialtheorie und Soziologie in aktuellen Debatten Die ZielgruppenStudierende und Lehrende der Soziologie sowie der Sozial- und Kulturwissenschaften Die AutorenDr. Jürgen Mackert ist Professor für Allgemeine Soziologie an der Universität Potsdam.Dr. Jochen Steinbicker ist wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter an der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.

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'.

An alternative account of Merton to that provided by Turner is sketched. It shows strong similarities to some quite plausible contemporary understandings of science in general. Given this reading, it would seem that Merton did not drastically change his position nor does it suffer from the ambiguities that Turner describes.