Luhmann's Theory Research Articles

Forms of Individuality and Literacy in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods ed. by Franz-Josef Arlinghaus

Reviewed by: Forms of Individuality and Literacy in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods ed. by Franz-Josef Arlinghaus Melissa Raine Arlinghaus, Franz-Josef, ed., Forms of Individuality and Literacy in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods (Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy, 31), Turnhout, Brepols, 2015; hardback; pp. viii, 317; 2 b/w, 13 colour illustrations; R.R.P. €90.00; ISBN 9782503552200. This collection began as a conference on the utility of Niklas Luhmann's systems theory for understanding premodern individuality, but the essays provide stimulating interdisciplinary discussions about individuality and premodern (mainly German-speaking) Europe independently of this framework. Three essays together offer a useful introduction to Luhmann's principles. Franz-Josef Arlinghaus applies the distinction he made between socially inclusive individuality—distinctive to medieval and early modern societies—and 'modern' individuality—grounded in its distance from society—to autobiography. Accordingly, premodern autobiography is characterized by a drive to be 'better' within the parameters of one's social affiliation (exemplified by the works of [End Page 142] Thietmar of Merseburg and Augsburg merchant Lucas Rem), as opposed to an emphasis on 'difference' in modern autobiography. David Gary Shaw rejects Luhmann's separation of 'the social and the psychic', arguing that, for a historian, the integration of these spheres through the concept of self is preferable (p. 125). Shaw is more positive about Luhmann's thinking around the individual and social structure, and pushes Luhmann's transition to the modern period back to the fifteenth century through considering 'self-expression' in sumptuary law, Thomas Hoccleve, and the almost unyieldingly 'impersonal' prose of William Worcester, all of which demonstrate 'the pressure coming from individual people to place themselves into the social world in ways that seem unpredictable sometimes, but always personal' (p. 147). When Gregor Rohmann argues that medieval inclusion identity was staged largely at the level of semantics, as shifting social structures did not offer a stable basis for identity, he inverts one of Luhmann's key oppositions. Changing medieval kinship structures and the transcendental focus of Christianity are central to this reconfiguration, which Rohrmann explores through the recollections of Hieronymus Koehler and the relationship of the 'I' to authority over a household in the writing-self of sixteenth-century house books: 'there is no "autobiographical pact" in house books, but the reciprocity of collective remembrance' (p. 227). In the 'ego documents' produced by Princess Elisabeth Charlotte, sister-in-law to Louis XIV, Marieke Böth finds that gender, nationality, and status are interwoven with health, virtue, and physical location in the maintenance of her self-identity. Brigitte Bedos-Rezak engages with the relationship of theory to historical context before turning to 'long twelfth-century' expressions of individuality, culminating in a consideration of the 'non-human' expression of individuality in the form of seals. Eva Kormann examines women's self-representation (with reference to lower-class masculine textual self-representation) c. 1800, when 'the genre of "autobiography" demands an autonomous self conception, but the contemporary gender order knows of no autonomous model for women' (p. 118), generically reflected in the frequent choice of letter format to write about their lives (a communicative medium, rather than the solipsistic genres used by men). Through the autobiography of Konrad Pellikan, Gabrielle Jancke critiques the spatial conceptualization of autobiography as 'interior' (private) for relegating other social, 'public' aspects of the individual self to a secondary exteriority. The more neutral 'person' is preferred to 'individuality' for opening up 'a complex field of entangled relations, actions, and flows of resources, i.e. considering them people busily involved in performative processes of "doing person" in relational and participative ways' (p. 174). Matthias Meyer deals explicitly with narratology's treatment of the individual (in which he finds little use for Luhmann's work). Of the three fifteenth-century texts he considers, the most truly 'autobiographical' is the non-narrative, predominantly account-keeping marginal notes of physician Johannes Tichtel— [End Page 143] 'an inventory of the self of a real-life individual' (p. 195)—,whereas the narrative characteristics of the others produce individuality as an organizing principle of the text itself. Christof Rolker examines names as practices of representation that contribute to individual and social identity. He considers...

From Complexity Reduction to Moral Character: A Deweyian Reading of Luhmann's Social Systems Theory

Taking account of the widest possible range of consequences of one's action takes centre stage in John Dewey's pragmatist ethics, which likewise acknowledges that the ability to do so depends on the individual moral character. In contrast, Luhmann's theory of complexity‐reducing systems underscores the difficulties that social systems experience in registering the consequences of their operations in the overwhelmingly complex environment. Drawing upon Dewey's concept of moral character, the paper argues that social systems can be infused with an interest in controlling those consequences that pose risks to their sustainability. From an institutional economics perspective, this interest is shown to be implicated in the justification of the firm ownership in Alchian and Demsetz's theory of the firm. From the business ethics perspective, a similar interest is shown to underpin corporate social responsibility activities. Both perspectives acknowledge the effect of the corporate moral character on the predictability, reliability, and orderliness of corporate behaviour. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Young athletes' health knowledge system: Qualitative analysis of health learning processes in adolescent sportspersons.

Recognized side effects on health associated with sports participation in youth include overtraining, doping, and exposure to harassment and violence. Many of these effects originate in contexts where young athletes are beginning to make decisions about their sports practices on their own. This study sets out to explore knowledge and reasoning about health among adolescent athletes and to describe how health knowledge management structures are associated with different social systems. Qualitative data were collected from focus groups involving 65 young Swedish athletes aged 16-17years. The participants' knowledge and reasoning about health were examined using a deductive thematic analysis, categories from Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives, and Luhmann's social systems theory. The meaning of health was found to have a dynamic character for the young athletes, associated with constantly striving to satisfy immediate needs and fulfill short-time life goals. The athletes' thinking about health was associated with a pragmatic "health-as-a-resource" perspective, characterized by group self-comparisons, rapid cognitive processing, and opportunistic substitutions. They expressed a particular interest in experiential learning and personally relevant procedural knowledge, and they perceived that their factual knowledge about health was saturated. The results of this study add emphasis to the importance of involving adolescent sportspersons in the development of health education programs and contextualizing the programs to the athletes' specific age and social environment.

니클라스 루만의 체계이론에서 ‘형식’ 개념의 수용과 응용

본고는 니클라스 루만이 스펜서-브라운의 형식 개념과 그 일반특성을 체계이론에 받아들여 어떻게 응용하였는지 가급적 평이하게 설명함으로써 체계이론에 대한 이해를 돕는 것을 목적으로 한다. 먼저, 스펜서-브라운의 『형식의 법칙들』의 취지에 대해 설명한다. 여기에서 ‘구별을 실행하라’는 명령에 따르는 것의 의미를 밝힌다. 스펜서-브라운의 형식 산법은구별의 개념(‘구별은 자기완결이다’)에 근거하는데, 이것은 체계이론이 ‘관찰하는 체계’ 이론에 초점을 맞추는데 영향을 주었다. 관찰하는 체계란 자기자신의 관찰작동으로 자기자신을 생성하는 체계이다. 주체가 객체에 포함되어가는 자기언급적 작동으로 체계가 생성하는 것이다. 체계이론에서 주체-객체 도식은 탈구축된다. 이어서, 스펜서-브라운의 형식 산법의 공리 및 패러독스와 그 해소에 대해 설명한다. 체계이론은 이들을 통해 정교해졌으며 체계이론이 스펜서-브라운을 넘어선 점도 밝힌다. 마지막으로, 사회학이 체계(=사회)의 맹점을 사회 내부에서 볼 수 있음을 설명하고 체계이론에서 사회학의 역할을 제시한다.

2016/17년의 촛불집회들과 대통령 탄핵 : 루만의 사회체계이론의 관점에서

2016/17년의 촛불집회들과 대통령 탄핵 : 루만의 사회체계이론의 관점에서

A atualidade do anti-humanismo teórico: Luhmann e Althusser frente à problemática da diferenciação/integração social

À guisa de uma reflexão em torno da atualidade do anti-humanismo teórico como problemática para o pensamento social contemporâneo, contrapomos as formulações do Marxismo Althusseriano com a Teoria dos Sistemas de Niklas Luhmann – aquela considerada periférica, esta reconhecida como legítima no campo sociológico – a respeito do modo como ambas, ancoradas nessa posição epistemológica, encaminham suas formulações e propostas teóricas no que se refere à questão sociológica clássica da diferenciação/integração social. Para tanto, num primeiro momento, situamos o anti-humanismo frente à problemática sociológica atual e a configuração política à qual esta está inserida. Num segundo momento, passamos aos autores em questão, com ajuda de comentadores: analisa-se o Marxismo Althusseriano e sua proposta estrutural e, logo após, a teoria dos sistemas. Fugindo de uma necessária síntese entre elas, destacamos suas diferenças para, a partir do realce dessa pluralidade, lançar luz sobre as várias possibilidades, ao contrário do que as críticas provenientes da defesa do (inter) subjetivismo fazem crer, que tal posicionamento abre para a teorização e compreensão das sociedades complexas.

From transconstitutionalism to transdemocracy

AbstractThis article relates to the author's project “transdemocracy”. It starts with a discussion of “transconstitutionalism” and its limits. Transconstitutionalism concerns the fact that multiple legal orders of the same or different kind are simultaneously involved with the same constitutional issue or case, i.e. issue or case concerning basic rights or legal limitation and control of political power. Constitutional problems, thus go beyond the state and entangle several legal orders, although no new constitution arises in this context. The article points out the limits of transconstitutionalism in an asymmetric world society so as to seek new alternatives beyond it. Two alternatives are considered: post‐constitutionalism, which demands transcendence of today's world society and thus negate constitutionalism in general, and transdemocracy, which is rather immanent to our social formation and claims to be complementary to transconstitutionalism. Because the author prefers the second alternative, the article begins to outline an approach to transdemocracy that goes across state boundaries and beyond “We the People”, that is popular sovereignty, in order to emphasize the sustainable responsiveness for other peoples in the same world society. It is a question of sustainability of democracy. In this context, the author intends to develop an ecological approach to democracy with the background of Niklas Luhmann's systems theory, but from a heterodox, critical perspective.

Between Law and Transnational Social Movement Organizations: Stabilizing Expectations of Global Public Goods

This article draws on Niklas Luhmann's theory and method to present transnational social movement organizations as a solution to the problem of increased expectations of global public goods which fail to find adequate accommodation in law. As a concrete example of the limits of law in this respect, it examines the non liquet of the World Court on the question of the illegality of nuclear weapons. The trajectory of anti‐nuclear norms is traced beyond the limits of law to the alternative structure of transnational social movement organizations, and the article presents such organizations as stabilizing increased expectations of global public goods through their recursive decision making and their capacity to continuously project those expectations at the legal and political systems. This generates observations on the concept of ‘global governance ‘, the structural relations between global civil society and international law, and the role of this form of organization in the evolution of the global political system.

Repensando los límites de las organizaciones por medio de la teoría de sistemas organizacionales de Niklas Luhmann

This article examines how Luhmann's theory of organized systems can be used to expand our understanding of organizational boundaries. In a systematic way, we examine four central components of Luhmann's work: i) its basic distinction between organization and environment, ii) the openness and closeness of the organizations’ functioning, iii) the role of communications and decisions in identifying the limits of organizations and, lastly, iv) Luhmann’s emphasis on coordination in the construction of organizational boundaries. We discuss the salient points of both divergence and correspondence between Luhmann’s work and contending theoretical approaches to organizations. Potential contributions of Luhmann´s theory to analyses of contemporary organizations, both empirical and theoretical, are discussed.

Language Mediation as Communication System

Language mediation is employed as a possible solution for problems of migrants' inclusion in institutional services, within multilingual and multicultural societies. Interpreting Studies has highlighted that language mediation is coordination of social interactions and social construction of narratives. This paper explains language mediation using Luhmann's theory of communication systems, in particular the concepts of self-reference, reflexivity, function, structure, and structural coupling. Language mediation is observed as a self-referential communication system fulfilling the function of promoting participation and new narratives through reflexive coordination. In particular, the concept of structural coupling explains how language mediation can enhance change within other communication systems, promoting dialogue across difference. Language mediation, however, can also assume a hierarchical structure, which creates marginalization and ethnocentrism.

On the fruitfulness of the concept of partial organization: A rejoinder to Apelt et al.

This short paper responds to Apelt et al.’s (2017) comments on Ahrne et al.'s (2016) proposal of extending the concept of organization to any decided social orders and thereby putting organization studies at the centre of the social sciences. We highlight some misunderstandings about the aims of this proposal and discuss Apelt et al.’s own proposal of re-focusing organization studies on formal organizations based on Niklas Luhmann's systems theory.

A multi-perspective view on global economic and ecological system

Interdisciplinary thinking is essential in order to find solutions to many challenges of our time and avoid a lack of foresight. This article points out the importance of thinking in multiple perspectives and shows one example of how different fields and theories can be combined. This leads to conclusions, which cannot be neglected for understanding our world and should be considered for further developments. The example brings together the global economic system and the ecological system by using basic principles of Niklas Luhmann's systems theory. Although being considered as differentiated systems they influence each other. Contrasting developments and differing fundamental characteristics lead to discrepancies, which endanger many organisms and can only be resolved if they are approached on a broad and interdisciplinary basis.

Inclusion/Exclusion as the Missing Link. A Luhmannian Analysis of Loneliness Among Older People

This article contributes to the interdisciplinary study of loneliness among older people with some insights based on Luhmann's systems theory. We argue that loneliness is a consequence of the way society includes/excludes people. In contrast to traditional societies, modern society forces people to act as individuals. In order to prevent loneliness, individuals themselves must search for membership in functionally diffuse collectivities (couple relations, friendships, communities). Luhmann's theory provides the framework to integrate the findings of empirical research. We claim that older people are more prone to loneliness for three reasons: first, after retirement they lose their performance role, which limits access to informal communities. Second, because they suffer from illness, impairment and a lack of resources more often than younger people, their access to functionally diffuse collectivities is impeded. Finally, because of structural and semantic changes in the family system, older people often find themselves at the margins of families. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

On Human Involution: Posthumanist Anthropology and the Question of Ecology in the Work of Hans Blumenberg and Niklas Luhmann

Scholars in the environmental humanities frequently argue that a clear understanding of humanity's ecological embeddedness is sufficient to dismantle the anthropocentric biases of traditional humanism. Following Hans Blumenberg's interpretation of the Copernican turn, this article argues that the proponents of this view fail to recognize that the desire to overcome anthropocentrism was central to Enlightenment thought. Like the latter, ecological posthumanism accords itself cognitive privileges that presuppose a successful distantiation of the world. According to Blumenberg's anthropology, the need to turn away from the world in order to engage with it is a distinctly human trait. However, second-order cybernetics and Niklas Luhmann's social systems theory offer ways to conceptualize this “involution” as a general feature of living things, whose relative autonomy is predicated on the possibility of operational closure.

Creatures of the semiosphere: A problematic third party in the ‘humans plus technology’ cognitive architecture of the future global superintelligence

Contrary to the prevailing pessimistic AI takeover scenarios, the theory of the Global Brain (GB) argues that this foreseen collective, distributed superintelligence is bound to include humans as its key beneficiaries. This prediction follows from the contingency of evolution: we, as already present intelligent forms of life, are in a position to exert selective pressures onto the emerging new ones. As a result, it is foreseen that the cognitive architecture of the GB will include human beings and such technologies, which will best prove to advance our collective wellbeing. This paper aims to nuance and problematize this forecast by offering a novel combination of several existing theories: Kauffmann's theory of adjacent possible, Lotman's concept of the semiosphere, Luhmann's theory of social systems, and Heylighen's theory of intelligence. The resulting framework allows for a reinterpretation of the history of the human species in a way which suggests that it may not be individual humans, but our social systems, who are the most advanced intelligence currently operating on Earth. Our unique social systems, emerging from as early as the Neolithic out of mutual interrelations of the occurrences of symbolic communication of humans, are argued to be capable of individuating into autonomous, intelligent agents. The resulting distributedness of the currently dominating form of intelligence might challenge the predicted cognitive architecture of the Global Brain, as it is likely to introduce additional powerful sources of selective pressures. Since the rapid evolution of interconnecting technologies appears to open up immense emancipatory possibilities not only for humans, but also for the intelligently evolving ‘creatures of the semiosphere’, it is concluded that in the context of the rapidly self-organizing Global Brain, a close watch needs to be kept over the dynamics of the latter.

Institutional Economics, Social Dilemmas, and the Complexity‐Sustainability Trade‐off (A response to Hielscher and Pies)

Drawing inspiration from Niklas Luhmann's social systems theory, the present note argues that the complexity of social systems has the potential to undermine their sustainability and thus to generate social dilemmas. The conceptual construct of the ‘complexity‐sustainability trade‐off’ is invoked to make the point that ensuring sustainability, if at all possible, requires controlling the proliferation of systemic complexity. To some extent, this control is feasible through structural couplings that correspond to the economic concept of the internalization of externalities. If this solution falls short of meeting the sustainability goals, systemic complexity can be alternatively controlled through the dampening of systemic imperatives, which translates, at the individual level, into the weakening of incentives. Williamson's transaction cost theory of for‐profit hierarchy and Hansmann's trustworthiness theory of nonprofit organizations present cases in point.

Diakonie v perspektivě teorie sociálních systémů

This article is devoted to the differentiation of diakonia in modern society based on Niklas Luhmann's social systems theory. It first addresses the inner differentiation of the religious system, the framework of which is to assign diakonia the task of creating a re¬lationship to other systems of society. Dierk Starnitzke attempts to formulate theologically a diakonia-code which facilitates diakonia in order to receive input from other systems it relates to, while at the same time, maintaining its identity. The article further reflects on the formation of the diaconal work-structures at the three levels where social systems operate: interaction, organization and society. The task of theology is to impart the vision for organized diaconal work which currently prevails. The differentiated approach to diakonia facilitates a more adequate analysis of the problems diakonia faces in modern secularized society and how to relate various conceptions of diakonia to one another.This article is devoted to the differentiation of diakonia in modern society based on Niklas Luhmann's social systems theory. It first addresses the inner differentiation of the religious system, the framework of which is to assign diakonia the task of creating a relationship to other systems of society. Dierk Starnitzke attempts to formulate theologically a diakonia-code which facilitates diakonia in order to receive input from other systems it relates to, while at the same time, maintaining its identity. The article further reflects on the formation of the diaconal work-structures at the three levels where social systems operate: interaction, organization and society. The task of theology is to impart the vision for organized diaconal work which currently prevails. The differentiated approach to diakonia facilitates a more adequate analysis of the problems diakonia faces in modern secularized society and how to relate various conceptions of diakonia to one another.

Dve kritičke beleške o zakonu o parničnom postupku

The Author's criticism is focused on, in his opinion, two typical characteristics of the currently valid civil procedure: the language of the law and the concept of proving determined by Article 308 and Article 314 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The first part of the paper is based on the thesis that the neglect of linguistic culture has culminated in this Act by favoring provincialism in the linguistic expression embodied in the application of the conjunction 'to' in combination with the present tense in situations where the infinitive should have been used. Otherwise, the Author assumes that the differentation of the content of the statement requires the use of both forms, which is demonstrated by numerous relevant examples. The second critic represents a unique trilogy, providing the three different point of view on the Articles 308 and Article 314 of Code of Civil Procedure: a) from the aspect of the principle of efficiency, b) from the viewpoint of Luhmann's theory of legal procedure and c) according to Radbruch's concept of the idea of the law. Despite the fact that they contain different arguments, all three experiments give an identical result - the insolidity of the provisions which determine the nature of proving.

The Individuation of Social Systems: A Cognitive Framework

We present a socio-human cognitive framework that radically deemphasizes the role of individual human agents required for both the formation of social systems and their ongoing operation thereafter. Our point of departure is Simondon's (1992) theory of individuation, which we integrate with the enactive theory of cognition (Di Paolo et al., 2010) and Luhmann's (1996) theory of social systems. This forges a novel view of social systems as complex, individuating sequences of communicative interactions that together constitute distributed yet distinct cognitive agencies, acquiring a capacity to exert influence over their human-constituted environment. We conclude that the resulting framework suggests several different paths of integrating AI agents into human society. One path suggests the emulation of a largely simplified version of the human mind, reduced in its functions to a specific triple selection-making which is necessary for sustaining social systems. Another one conceives AI systems that follow the distributed, autonomous architecture of social systems, instead that of humans.

Legal theory of Niklas Luhmann and the crisis of modern society

Review. The article introduces the basic concepts of system theory of law by Niklas Luhmann, such as communication, autopoiesis, normative expectations, legal / illegal code, the paradox of the legal system, the formula of uncertainty, and also suggests a critical analysis of the provisions of the system theory backed by the position of V.S. Nersesyants and lu. Habermas. N . Luhmann's consideration of communications through the prism of public relations reflects the subordination of human heartless logic of social systems in modern society. The fundamental paradox, which was noted by N. Luhmann, regarding the legal system turns into the dependence of law from political powers, which indicates the failure of the internal search system-forming factor of the legal system. The positivist approach threatens the systematicy of rules. The proposed by system theory understanding of justice does not help self-development of the legal system. The legal system has no purpose, human rights are considered from instrumental point of view as a means of smooth self-reproduction of social systems. In this approach, the further development of human rights for the sake of ensuring a decent standard of living seems undesirable distortion. Legal opinions of N. Luhmann express the crisis of modern society, where the right is gradually losing its relevance to everyday life. The main drawback of the Luhmann's system theory of law consists in reducing standards to the fact in a sociological way. Libertarian legal theory of V.S. Nersesyants seems more consistent application of the system approach to the study of law which overcomes the paradox of legal system due to the proper interpretation of regulations, thus solving the problem of self-justification of law. A legal rule can not be a fact because it is a theoretical model of positive law. Libertarian legal theory understands the legal norm not in the logical sense of the normative statements with a bunch of "should", but in a legal sense as a special form of obligation other than the structure of "if... then ... else ... " (hypothesis, disposition and sanction). Here, the positive law as a whole is conceptualized as one legal norm. This allows you to make system rules defined as a regulatory ideal, revealing the importance of the principle of formal equality as the backbone of the internal factors of the legal system