English
This article is devoted to the study of the "disciplinary program" led by R.K. Merton in order to institutionalize the sociology of science. Using an original material – the correspondence of Merton available at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library (Columbia University, New York) – we analyse the "gap" between the "public knowledge" and the "private knowledge" associated to this disciplinary program. On the basis of a distinction between five components of a discipline, the article also shows how a disciplinary program integrates the socially differentiated nature of academic life.
Keywords
- discipline
- disciplinary program
- epistolary relation
- merton
- private knowledge
