Abstract
Throughout its history, reflection on human society has been torn apart by the opposing views of atomism and holism. Traditional societies, the city state of ancient Greece as well as the medieval perfect society apparently resemble a whole with its parts. Early modernity continued this holistic inclination for a while, but soon reverted to atomistic theories of the (hypothetical) social contract. Modern humanism dominated the subsequent views articulated in terms of the dialectical tension between nature and freedom (science ideal and personality ideal) – including mechanistic and vitalistic approaches as well as the more recent acknowledgment of irreducibly complex systems (Behe, 2003). In Wiener’s (1954; 1956) “technologicism” human responsibility and freedom are sacrificed. An alternative view is advanced in terms of the normativity of societal life as well as its many-sidedness. It is shown that theories of social systems increasingly tend to explore avenues transcending the limitations of the atomistic additive approach and the boundary-leveling whole-parts scheme entailed in social systems theory. This development is used as a starting point for the classification of social interaction and for underscoring the scope of the principle of sphere-sovereignty for a multidisciplinary understanding of social systems.
Highlights
Atomisme en holisme in die verstaan van die samelewing en sosiale stelsels Dwarsdeur die geskiedenis tref ons teenstellende opvattings oor die menslike samelewing aan, naamlik atomistiese en holistiese sienings
Die Humanistiese erfenis het ’n tuiste gebied vir meganistiese- sowel as vitalistiese benaderings asook vir die meer resente erkenning van onherleibaar-komplekse stelsels (Behe, 2003)
It is not surprising that the emergence of theoretical reflection on the human predicament was accompanied by attempts to portray the best way of living together and the best way to understand what is entailed in the good life
Summary
Humankind is known to have lived in societies since the dawn of history. It is not surprising that the emergence of theoretical reflection on the human predicament was accompanied by attempts to portray the best way of living together and the best way to understand what is entailed in the good (societal) life. The natural science ideal proceeded in an atomistic fashion, and extending its claims to the realm of human society entailed that the atoms of society, namely the individuals, should be used as building blocks in the rational construction of society This is a hypothetical account of the emergence of an ordered society. The incredibly complex nature of living entities more recently – once again a century later – inspired considerations concerning the structural plan (German: Bauplan) of living things, advanced by Behe in his idea of irreducibly complex systems (cf Behe, 2003:39 ff.).5 With his specific understanding of information as the reverse of entropy – the one is the opposite of the other (Wiener, 1950:18) – Wiener introduced his new discipline of cybernetics.
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