Abstract
An attempt is made to present and organize some basic concepts from the universal systems theory of Niklas Luhmann. Working in the theoretical tradition of autopoiesis and second order cybernetics the point of departure is not ontology but distinction and observation. The basic distinction is the distinction between system and environment. Concentrating on social systems the element of which are ephemeral communications Luhmann operates with concepts as self-reference, time, and paradox in constructivist systems science. As Luhmann considers modern society in functional subsystems such as economy, science and politics he presents a picture of society with no center and no important place for the individual.
The ambition of Niklas Luhmann is to construct a universal systems theory, encomassing living, mental and social systems. As a sociologist he is, however, mainly concerned with social systems. For a theory to be universal, it must, in the first place, be able to include itself in its domain of observation. It could not claim to describe everything if it ovserved systems from a blind spot outside the systems observed, leaving the observer and the apparatus of observation no only unobserved, but invisible, and presupposing that systems just exist independent of being observed. A universal systems theory must deelop a conceptual scheme sophisticated enough to observe its own style of ovserving and the role of the observer. It must be able to deal with the problems of self-reference, inviting the confusing and petrifying demons of paradox and tautology inside. Even if the last observer is never caught - who could catch him except another uncaught observer? - a universal theory must consider the idea of self-reference. Secondly, a universal systems theory must be able to define its own place in society, as systems theory is not detached from the world, but is part of the society which it observes. Science is a functional subsystem of society (cf. Luhmann, (1990), p. 7).
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