“Most institutions demand unqualified faith; but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue.”

—  Robert K. Merton , book Social Theory and Social Structure

Source: Social Theory and Social Structure

Last update Oct. 9, 2024. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Most institutions demand unqualified faith; but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue." by Robert K. Merton?
Robert K. Merton photo
Robert K. Merton 11
American sociologist 1910–2003

Related quotes

Paul Karl Feyerabend photo

“The separation of state and church must be complemented by the separation of state and science, that most recent, most aggressive, and most dogmatic religious institution.”

Paul Karl Feyerabend book Against Method

Source: Against Method (1975), p. 295

“Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought.”

John Rawls book A Theory of Justice

Source: A Theory of Justice (1971; 1975; 1999), Chapter I, Section 1, pg. 3-4
Context: Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. A theory however elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue; likewise laws and institutions no matter how efficient and well-arranged must be reformed or abolished if they are unjust. Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. For this reason justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others. It does not allow that the sacrifices imposed on a few are outweighed by the larger sum of advantages enjoyed by many. Therefore in a just society the liberties of equal citizenship are taken as settled; the rights secured by justice are not subject to political bargaining or to the calculus of social interests.

“Science, as an institution, cannot be independent of human passions.”

Carlos Gershenson (1978) Mexican researcher

Zire Notes (May 2004 - December 2006)

Jerry Coyne photo

“In religion, faith is a virtue. In science, faith is a vice.”

Jerry Coyne (1949) American biologist

Coyne (2011) " For the love of God... scientists in uproar at £1m religion prize http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/for-the-love-of-god-scientists-in-uproar-at-1631m-religion-prize-2264181.html" on independent.co.uk, April 6, 2011

Christopher Hitchens photo

“Faith is the surrender of the mind; it's the surrender of reason, it's the surrender of the only thing that makes us different from other mammals. It's our need to believe, and to surrender our skepticism and our reason, our yearning to discard that and put all our trust or faith in someone or something, that is the sinister thing to me. Of all the supposed virtues, faith must be the most overrated.”

Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist

2005-05-23
Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
season 3 episode 5
Holier Than Thou
Television
2000s, 2005

Martin Luther King, Jr. photo

“Your ultimate allegiance is not to the government, not to the state, not to nation, not to any man-made institution. The Christian owes his ultimate allegiance to God, and if any earthly institution conflicts with God's will it is your Christian duty to take a stand against it. You must never allow the transitory evanescent demands of man-made institutions to take precedence over the eternal demands of the Almighty God.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

“ Paul's Letter to American Christians http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_pauls_letter_to_american_christians/", Sermon delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama (4 November 1956)
1950s, Paul's Letter to American Christians (1956)

Walter Rauschenbusch photo

“Under the warm breath of religious faith all social institutions become plastic.”

Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918) United States Baptist theologian

Source: Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907), Introduction, p.xii

John L. Lewis photo

“Workers have kept faith in American institutions. Most of the conflicts which have occurred have been when labor's right to live has been challenged and denied.”

John L. Lewis (1880–1969) American labor leader

Labor and the Nation speech (September 3, 1937)

Albert Einstein photo

“Science is international but its success is based on institutions, which are owned by nations. If therefore, we wish to promote culture we have to combine and to organize institutions with our own power and means.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

When asked the question, “Why a ‘Jewish’ University?” when Einstein was assisting Chaim Weizmann in fundraising for The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
As quoted in [Albert Einstein, Letter “Einstein in Singapore.” Manchester Guardian, October 12, 1929]
1920s

“Most institutional theories see local actors – whether individuals, organizations, or national states – as affected by institutions built up in much wider environments. Individuals and organizations are affected by societal institutions, and national-states by a world society.”

John W. Meyer (1935) Sociologist and professor at Stanford University

Source: "Reflections on institutional theories of organization,." 2008, p. 790

Related topics