Как мы с Галиной Андреевой вступили в публичную дискуссию с Р. Мертоном

I did not have personal relationship with Merton. But at the congress in Évian, Galina Andreeva and I started a dispute concerning his paper where Robert Merton spelled out his idea that a middle-range theory was independent of a macro-theory. Andreeva and I raised objections and held, particularly, that the role theory of a personality definitely fit the structural-functionalist theory of society. We said that an alternative personality theory was possible, based on the Marx’ theory where an individual was treated as a social agent. In his or her actions an agent assimilated the world of things (распредмечивает его) and created the new (опредмечивает). In so doing, agents create themselves. Andreeva referred to A. N. Leontiev, and I argued that the role theory interpreted well the individual adaptation to the existing social conditions, but did not explain how a personality transformed in practice the conditions of the social reality. Responding to our remarks Robert Merton was saying something, but I do not remember what. The only thing was clear that the words were rather well-disposed. So we were extremely surprised to see a note in his famous work Social theory and social structure where he mentioned a “different position” on a relative autonomy of the middle-range theories and referred to Andreeva and Yadov.