The scientific ethos debate: A meta-theoretical view

The concept of the ethos of science introduced by Merton in 1942 has given rise to a series of critical discussions, mainly by British sociologists of science. Two phases are identified in the scientific ethos debate beginning in the late 60s and continuing up to the present. The first focus is on the argument that the principles of scientific behavior are not moral norms; the second emphasizes that the rules regulating scientific activity are not normative. Running across these two, is a third argument related to a political radical approach that regards the 'normative structure of science' as an ideology. These lines of criticism are examined from a sociology of knowledge perspective attempting to discern the intellectual and social positions of their proponents. Special attention is given to account for the adoption of the Kuhnian model of scientific development by Merton's critics. The scientific ethos debate is viewed as part of the more general controversy between structural-functional analysis and a phenomenological- interpretative approach.