From self-reference to autology: how to operationalize a circular approach

Abstract

One of the most innovative features of Niklas Luhmann's theory resides in its allegedly circular construction: it starts from the assumption that even a theory of society itself is but a part of the object (society) that it aims to explain. Hence the relevance and crucial position of the issue of self-description. Using observation theory and second-order cybernetics, the paper briefly examines the epistemological presuppositions that are the basis for this position. It then turns to one of the aspects of the theory that reveals most clearly the consequences of this circular approach: the study of communication as applied to the system of science.