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Lecture Notes on Systems TheoryPart 3

III. Systems theory as formulated by Luhmann can be seen as inheritor of theHegelian philosophical system. If Hegel used paradoxical and circular reasoning,

Luhmann, too, was similarly guilty and was even proud of it. Together their brandof thinking can be put under the heading Self-referential theories. Luhmannused this term oftentimes interchangeably with the term Autopoiesis.

Mahirap i-translate ang self-reference sa Tagalog pero for the sake ofsimplicity, ang self-reference ay nangyayari kung ang isang bagay aypumapatungkol din sa sarili niya. Ito ay ang property na kung saan hindimaiwasan na ma-implicate ang sarili sa lahat ng nangyayari o ginagawa. Angmga halimbawang binanggit ni Luhmann ay ang pagiging mulat sa kamulatan(being conscious of ones consciousness) o ang pag-uusap tungkol sa mgapinag-uusapan (communication about communication). May ilan panghalimbawa, e.g. thinking about thoughts, acting on actions, observing

observations, commenting on comments, etc.

Ang autopoiesis naman ay galing sa dalawang Greek words na auto(self) at poiesis (produce/create). Samakatuwid, ang etymological meaningnito ay self-creation o self-production/self-reproduction. Sa systems theory niLuhmann magkasama parati ang dalawang concepts na toSelf-Reference at(Self-Creation) Autopoiesis. Social systems are self-referential and autopoieticsystems, according to Luhmann. How?

First, with the creation of a system, a system must necessarily implicateitself in creating itself. A system must distinguish or differentiate itself from theenvironment for it to become a system. It uses the distinctionsystem/environment. Second, systems further differentiate itself into subsystemsaccording to the primary mode of differentiation. In segmentary societies, withintribal villages, a family that grows bigger than the size it can handle will formanother family (similar segment from similar segment). In hierarchical societies,ones privileged status is enhanced by moving to or creating status higher thatthe previously occupied privileged status (which now becomes less privileged). Infunctionally differentiated society, function systems reproduce themselvesaccording to their functions; e.g. science establishes truths that can be later onfalsified by newer truths; or in law, congressmen pass new laws to amendexisting laws.

This insight is very crucial in understanding Luhmanns systems theoryand his account of modernity. For him, what distinguishes traditional societyfrom modern society is the way society is differentiated. Modern society becamepossible when social systems have become differentiated enough that it canoperate autonomously by following its self-referential, autopoietic functions.

Traditional societies have subsystems that overlap one anothers function andthis creates domination and dependency. The key to modernity is functionaldifferentiation.

Luhmann provided a brief account of how functional differentiationstarted. It started when (two) complementary roles developed around eachother. For example, teacher and student roles, when it became established and

separated from other roles, the subsystem of education was born. Rememberthat in traditional society, the status of a student is incomprehensible since there

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was no formal education. Parents were the teachers, economic benefactors, lawenforcers all at the same time, and education/training was not meant foreducation itself but for learning the skills needed for the familys livelihood.Education is tied up to economic activity and sometimes to religion. The samething can be said with the economy. When the role of buyers and sellers inmarkets became independent enough of the economic restrictions of a self-subsistent, feudal economy, the market grew in importance and there emergedthe economy as a separate subsystem.

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