Niklas Luhmann Quotes
Niklas Luhmann was a German sociologist and one of the leading systems theorists of the twentieth century. Trained as a lawyer and trained further in the United States under Talcott Parsons, he held a chair at Bielefeld for most of his career, where he produced an enormous theoretical corpus, the centerpiece of which is the two-volume Social Systems and the late synthesis Theory of Society. The quotes below are attributed to Niklas Luhmann, organized by topic.
Niklas Luhmann on Mind
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Attributed to Niklas Luhmann:
“Self-reference is the operating principle of social systems.”
Niklas Luhmann on Politics
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Attributed to Niklas Luhmann:
“Society consists of communications, not of human beings.”
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Attributed to Niklas Luhmann:
“Systems reduce complexity by selecting from their environment.”
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Attributed to Niklas Luhmann:
“Trust is a strategy for the reduction of complexity.”
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Attributed to Niklas Luhmann:
“Modern society is functionally differentiated.”