1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910461934803321

Autore

Luhmann Niklas <1927-1998.>

Titolo

Theory of society [[electronic resource] ] . Volume 1 / / Niklas Luhmann ; translated by Rhodes Barrett

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Stanford, Calif., : Stanford University Press, 2012

ISBN

0-8047-8647-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (488 p.)

Collana

Theory of society ; ; v. 1

Cultural memory in the present

Altri autori (Persone)

BarrettRhodes

Disciplina

301

Soggetti

Sociology

Social systems

Communication

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

"Originally published in German under the title Die Gesellschaft der Gesellschaft."

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Contents; Preface; Translator's Note; 1. Society as a Social System; 1.1. The Sociological Theory of Society; 1.2. Preliminary Remarks on Methodology; 1.3. Meaning; 1.4. The Distinction Between System and Environment; 1.5. Society as a Comprehensive Social System; 1.6. Operational Closure and Structural Couplings; 1.7. Cognition; 1.8. Ecological Problems; 1.9. Complexity; 1.10. World Society; 1.11. Demands on Rationality; 2. Communication Media; 2.1. Medium and Form; 2.2. Dissemination Media and Success Media; 2.3. Language; 2.4. Morality and the Secrets of Religion; 2.5. Writing

2.6. Printing2.7. Electronic Media; 2.8. Dissemination Media: Summary; 2.9. Symbolically Generalized Communication Media, 1: Function; 2.10. Symbolically Generalized Communication Media, 2: Differentiation; 2.11. Symbolically Generalized Communication Media, 3: Structures; 2.12. Symbolically Generalized Communication Media, 4: Self-Validation; 2.13. Moral Communication; 2.14. Effects on the Evolution of the Societal System; 3. Evolution; 3.1. Creation, Planning, Evolution; 3.2. Systems-Theoretical Basis; 3.3. The Neo-Darwinian Theory of Evolution; 3.4. The Variation of Elements



3.5. Selection Through Media3.6. The Restabilization of Systems; 3.7. Differentiation of Variation, Selection, and Restabilization; 3.8. Evolutionary Advances; 3.9. Technology; 3.10. The Evolution of Ideas; 3.11. The Evolution of Subsystems; 3.12. Evolution and History; 3.13. Memory; Notes; Index

Sommario/riassunto

This first volume of Niklas Luhmann's two-part final work was initially published in German in 1997. The culmination of his thirty-year theoretical project to reconceptualize sociology, it offers a comprehensive description of modern society on a scale not attempted since Talcott Parsons. Beginning with an account of the fluidity of meaning and the accordingly high improbability of successful communication, Luhmann analyzes a range of communicative media, including language, writing, the printing press, and electronic media as well as ""success media,"" such as money, power, truth, and lo