Niklas Luhmann was a German sociologist who built one of the most comprehensive and abstract theoretical systems in the discipline, social systems theory. Drawing on the biological concept of autopoiesis, he described society as composed of self-referential, self-producing communication systems, such as law, the economy, politics, and science, each operating according to its own internal binary code and largely closed to direct steering from outside. His major work, Social Systems (1984), and his later multi-volume studies of individual social subsystems made him one of the most influential, and most demanding, theorists of modern society.
Facts
BirthplaceLüneburg, Free State of Prussia 1 Nationality / Culture Defining ContributionDeveloped a functionalist-oriented systems theory describing modern society as composed of self-referential, self-producing communication systems, drawing on the biological concept of autopoiesis. 1 Notable WorkSocial Systems (Soziale Systeme, 1984) 1 Connections
Associated With
Luhmann Law as a Social System theorized law as a self-referential communicative system operating alongside, and structurally coupled to, the state and the economy.
Practices Studied
Source Niklas Luhmann (Wikipedia)
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Nationality
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Source Niklas Luhmann (Wikipedia)Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia articleQuote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
Niklas Luhmann (; German: [ˈluːman]; December 8, 1927 – November 11, 1998) was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and systems theorist.
Sources
1. Niklas Luhmann (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, opening sentence (birth date)
Niklas Luhmann (December 8, 1927, November 11, 1998) was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and systems theorist.
Lead paragraph, opening sentence (birth year)
Niklas Luhmann (December 8, 1927, November 11, 1998) was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and systems theorist.
Lead paragraph, opening sentence (death date)
Niklas Luhmann (December 8, 1927, November 11, 1998) was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and systems theorist.
Lead paragraph, opening sentence (death year)
Niklas Luhmann (December 8, 1927, November 11, 1998) was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and systems theorist.
Lead paragraph, opening sentence (nationality)
Niklas Luhmann (December 8, 1927, November 11, 1998) was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and systems theorist.
Overview paragraph, systems theory sentence
From this foundation he developed a functionalist-oriented systems theory, which claims to be able to describe all social phenomena in a theoretically consistent language.
Works list, 1984 entry
1984: Soziale Systeme: Grundriß einer allgemeinen Theorie, Frankfurt: Suhrkamp (English translation: Social Systems, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1995)
Biography section, opening sentence (birthplace)
Luhmann was born in Lüneburg, Free State of Prussia, where his father's family had been running a brewery for several generations.
Practices Studied: Law, Article text
Much of Luhmann's work directly deals with the operations of the legal system and his autopoietic theory of law is regarded as one of the more influential contributions to the sociology of law and socio-legal studies.
View the Source Wikidata: Niklas Luhmann
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