Niklas Luhmann

is misguided because systems, first and foremost, have a relation with themselves and only a marginal relation with that which is called the other.

Living in Germany he spotted an enemy in the works of Niklas Luhmann and systems theory: ?The ultimate form of individualist substantialism, the most subtle to this day and the one that has known real success appears in a practically perfect incognito, in the form of systems theory. In it, systems are assessed as quasi-monads that are distinguished from their specific environments; but strict heed is paid to the following succession: first and above all the internal relations of the system with itself, then external relations. Luhmann makes no secret about the reason for the design of his theory: he openly explains that systems first and foremost have a relation with themselves, and only a marginal relation with that which is called the other. He says that the relation-to-self prevails by a thousand to one over the relation-to-the-foreign (151)?.

Niklas Luhmann, n.Definitions

Niklas Luhmann