Systems in Context. On the outcome of the Habermas/Luhmann-debate

AuthorPoul Kjaer
Pages66-77
66 ANCILLAIURIS(anci.ch)2006:66Article
Abstract1
Usuallyregardedasa1970sphenomenon,thisarticledemon
stratesthatthedebatebetweenJürgenHabermasandNiklasLuh
manncontinueduntilLuhmann’sdeathin1998,andthatthe
developmentofthetwotheorists’positionsduringthe1980sand
1990swascharacterisedbyconvergenceratherthanbydiver
gence.Intherealmoflegaltheory,thearticlesuggests,conver
genceadvancedtotheextentthatHabermas’discoursetheory
maybecharacterisedasanormativesuperstructuretoLuh
mann’sdescriptivetheoryofsociety.Itisfurthershownthatthe
debate’sresultwasanalmostcompleteabsorptionofHabermas’
theorybyLuhmann’ssystemstheoreticalcomplexanoutcome
facilitatedbyLuhmann’sdeliberatetranslationofcentralHaber
masianconceptsintosystemstheoreticalconcepts.Thearticlear
guesthatboththedebateandHabermas’conversionweremade
possiblebecausenotonlyHabermas’butalsoLuhmann’swork
canbeconsideredafurtherdevelopmentoftheGermanidealist
tradition.WhatLuhmanndidnotacknowledgewasthatthisma
noeuvrepermittedtheachievementofHabermas’normativeob
jectives;nordidhenoticethatitcoulderadicateacentralflawin
thesystemtheoreticalconstruction,byallowingthecontextwith
inwhichdistinctionsaredrawntobemappedanissueofpivotal
importanceforgraspingrelationshipsbetweendifferentsocial
systems,andcoordinatingthem,viathedeploymentoflegalin
struments.
1. Introduction
Inthe1970s,muchofGermansocialtheoreticaldis
coursecentredaroundthedebatebetweenNiklasLuh
mann(192798)andJürgenHabermas(1929),thatwas
launchedin1971bytheirpublicationTheoriederGesellschaft
oderSocialtechnologiewasleistetdieSystemforschung?2The
centralquestioninthisdebatewaswhethertheideaof
emancipationthroughrationalpoliticalsteeringthecore
elementinEnlightenmentthinking,aswellasinGerman
idealismcouldstillbeconsideredasmeaningful.Luh
1EuropeanUniversityInstitute,Florence.EMail:poul.kjaer@iue.it.
TheauthorwouldliketothankClaireBrianandHenning
Trüp erforextensivecommentsonanearlierdraft.Responsability
forcontentremainswiththeauthor.
2JürgenHabermas/NiklasLuhmann,TheoriederGesellschaftoder
SozialtechnologiewasleistetdieSystemforschung?(Frankfurtam
Main.SuhrkampVer lag ,1971).
mannarguedthatitcouldnot.Habermasconverselyadvo
catedforarevitalisationofEnlightenmentidealsandGer
manidealism,tobeachievedbydevelopmentofan
‚updated’theoryofemancipation.3
Atafirstglance,thedebateendedwithpublicationof
HabermasTheoriedeskommunikativenHandelns(1981)and
Luhmann’sSozialeSysteme(1984).Subsequently,itwas
widelythought,thetwotheoreticianshadmovedsofar
awayfromeachotherthattheynolongerhadanythingto
discuss.LuhmannsstagingofSozialeSystemeasawork
whichpavedthewayforasocialtheoreticalparadigmshift
fromthinkinginidentitytothinkingindistinctions,4was
seenasconfirmingthisview.5AccordingtoLuhmannhim
self,thelattermoverepresentedsystemstheorysfinal
breakwithEnlightenmentthinkingandtheGermanideal
isttraditionand,therefore,withthestartingpointofHab
ermasiantheory.6
Itistheargumentofthisarticle,however,thatitre
mainsbothpossibleandfruitfultoarticulateHabermas
theoreticalambitions,astheyhavedevelopedsincethe
publicationofTheoriedeskommunikativenHandelns,using
systemtheoreticaltoolsadvancedbyLuhmannfromthe
publicationofSozialeSystemeonwards.
Suchanundertakingislesscontroversialthanitmayat
firstappear.Luhmannhimselfinitiatedsuchaprojectin
theyearsafterpublicationofTheoriedeskommunikativen
Handelnsbyposingthequestion:„Waswäregewonnen,
wasgingeverloren,wolltemandieTheoriederrationalar
gumentierendenkommunikativenPraxisineineTheorie
autopoietischerKommunikationssystemeübersetzen?“7
3Therathermisleadingtermphilosophyofconsciousnessisnor
mallyusedtocapturethetraditionfromDescartestoHusserl,
whereasthetermGermanidealismisusedasanarrowerconcept
whichcoversthetheoreticaldevelopmentfromFichtetoHusserl.
However,inthelackofabetterconceptGermanidealismisinthis
textusedinabroadersense,whichcapturesthetraditionfrom
Kant,FichteandHegeloverHusserltoHabermas.
4NiklasLuhmann,SozialeSysteme.GrundrißeinerallgemeinenTheorie
(FrankfurtamMain.SuhrkampVer lag ,1984),p.18ff.
5E.g.UrsStäheli:Sinnzusammenbrüche.EinedekonstruktiveLektüre
vonNiklasLuhmannsSystemtheorie(Weilerswist,VelbrückWissen
schaft,2000),p.14.
6Thetermsystemstheoryisthroughoutthearticleusedsynony
mouslywithLuhmann’ssystemstheory.
SystemsinContext
OntheoutcomeoftheHabermas/Luhmanndebate
PoulKjaer

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