"Private knowledge"et "programme disciplinaire"en sciences sociales: Étude de cas à partir de la correspondance de Robert K. Merton

Abstract

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.