Sage Publications - Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Vol. 29 No. 4, December 1999 481-516 - Foundations of Niklas Luhmann′s Theory of Social Systems - Alex Viskovatoff.pdfVIP

Viskovatoff / LUHMANN’S THEORY OF SOCIAL SYSTEMSPHILOSOPHY OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES / December 1999 Foundations of Niklas Luhmann’s Theory of Social Systems ALEX VISKOVATOFF University of Pittsburgh Of all contemporary social theorists, Luhmann has best understood the central- ity of the concept of meaning to social theory and has most extensively worked out the notion’s implications. However, despite the power of his theory, the the- ory suffers from difficulties impeding its reception. This article attempts to rem- edy this situation with some critical arguments and proposals for revision. First, the theory Luhmann adopted from biology as the basis of his own theory was a poor choice since that theory has no explanatory power, being purely descrip- tive; furthermore, that theory is fundamentally flawed since it implies that viruses are impossible. Second, Luhmann’s theory of meaning cannot coher- ently make the social domain autonomous as he desires since Luhmann does not take into account the distinction between syntax and semantics. By introducing this distinction, making clear that social systems consist of rules, not just com- munications, and raising the rule concept to the same prominence in social the- ory as those of actor and system, autonomy can be maintained while avoiding the counterintuitive aspects of Luhmann’s theory. Although his work has not yet received in other countries the attention it deserves, Niklas Luhmann is widely recognized in Ger- 1 many as the most noteworthy contemporary social theorist. Unsatis- fied with the present state of sociology because the discipline “remains dependent on working with the data that it produces itself, and, where theory is concerned, on wo