Most institutions demand unqualified faith; but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue.
Robert K. MertonRead
Max Weber was right in subscribing to the view that one need not be Caesar in order to understand Caesar. But there is a temptation for us theoretical sociologists to act sometimes as though it is not necessary even to study Caesar in order to understand him. Yet we know that the interplay of theory and research makes both for understanding of the specific case and expansion of the general rule.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Understanding complex ideas requires both theory and practical study of real-life examples.
In this quote, Robert K. Merton emphasizes the importance of combining theoretical knowledge with practical research. He agrees with Max Weber's assertion that one does not need to be an expert or leader (such as Caesar) to understand them, but cautions against the temptation to overlook the necessity of studying the actual subject in order to gain a full understanding, highlighting the interplay between theory and empirical research as essential for insight and knowledge expansion.
Themes
TheoryResearchUnderstandingSociologyEmpirical
In practice
Example use cases
A professor might use this quote to illustrate the importance of research methods in sociology classes.
More from Robert K. Merton
All quotes →Anticipatory plagiarism occurs when someone steals your original idea and publishes it a hundred years before you were born.
Robert K. MertonRead
The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally false conception come true. The specious validity of the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error. For the prophet will cite the actual course of events as proof that he was right from the very beginning.
Robert K. MertonRead
Similar quotes
I think if you're going to master policy, especially world affairs, you've got to know history.
Charles KrauthammerRead
If you intend to study the mind, you must have systematic training; you must practice to bring the mind under your control.
Swami VivekanandaRead
Of course there is no denying the possible pleasure of holing up with a fat, slow-moving, mediocre novel; still, we all know that we can indulge ourselves in that fashion only so much. In the end, we read not for reading's sake, but to learn.
Joseph BrodskyRead
It was the kind of library he had only read about in books.
Alan BennettRead
The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
Experience by itself teaches nothing... Without theory, experience has no meaning. Without theory, one has no questions to ask. Hence, without theory, there is no learning.
W. Edwards DemingRead