The public discussions about the ecological conditions of the social cohabit and of its relation to the social system and its environment did grow during the last 30 years. The community is affected by what they coursed in the environment. “I write out of a sense of alarm” is what already was said and that is what describes the situation. The consumption of natural resources, the increasing dependence from self created substitutes, the reduction of the diversity of species / biodiversity as a requirement for evolution, pollution, the overpopulation of the earth is an always present subject of matter. But what could LuhmannsSystemtheoriein this context do for or against it? With the help of this theory this essay will evaluate that the environment always takes part and nothing happens without it; this is self-evident. Furthermore it will analyse that an “absolute environment” does not exist. The view of what environment is depends on the system that is observing the environment. The environment is always changing and a main part of every evolution a system is doing.
This will be illustrated on Geothes Faust II, act 5. In this peace Faust is a unsatisfied investigator who is desperate of his situation. Because of this he promises the devil Mephisto (or Mephistopheles) his soul if he could manage to take him out of his unsatisfied situation. In part II, act 5 Faust´s helpers burn down an old married couple house and a church. The couple, Philemon and Baucis, and their guest, a wanderer, died in the fire. Faust is not pleased but not angry about it as well. There old house and the church disturbed his plan to build up a new modern complex. To get land out of the sea he violates nature by building up a bank for unpropertied people. The dwellers from now on live in danger. Faust is satisfied and he died while Mephisto saying that nothing in the whole world would make any sense. Because LuhmannsSystemtheoriedemands to have a universal validity3, it must be possible to illustrate his understanding of the environment at the example of this peace of literature.
Table of Contents
I.
II.
III.
Research Objectives and Themes
This essay explores how Niklas Luhmann's systems theory can be applied to understand the complex relationship between societal systems and their environment, specifically focusing on the human desire to control and dominate nature as illustrated in Goethe's Faust II.
- Application of Luhmann's social systems theory to literary analysis.
- The constructivist view of the environment as a system-relative observation.
- The role of autopoiesis and operational closure in system maintenance.
- The interplay between psychological and social systems through communication.
- Critique of the human impulse to control the environment versus ecological consequences.
Excerpt from the Book
II.
Luhmanns Systemtheorie is universal valid; this means that it must work every time anywhere in any situation, which includes the whole world as such because social systems operate in limitation to world and their surrounding and that is the environment. The whole world is therefore unavoidable part of the surrounding of social systems. The world is a social construction. And this is as well valid for the environment. Environment, as we know it, is a social construction because everything we define as being environment is the result of observance and description. Because Luhmann is a constructivist he thinks that reality is only a construction. He does not denial the world or the environment but he questions the correspondence between the world and the cognition. Findings are only observance of the reality and therefore constructions. An observer is a psychological system, a human being, which is operating. To get statements from the reality there has to be made a comparison between one information form one observer with the second one from another observer, but not with the reality itself. In the end we never deal with a reality itself then with a reality that is constructed by an observer.
Summary of Chapters
I.: This chapter introduces the societal concern regarding ecological conditions and positions the essay's goal to evaluate the system/environment relationship through the lens of Goethe’s Faust II.
II.: This section details the core concepts of Luhmann’s theory, including constructivism, the system/environment difference, autopoiesis, and how systems observe and navigate their environment.
III.: The final chapter synthesizes the theoretical findings, concluding that ecological issues arise from internal system operations and that the evolution of environment and society are inextricably linked.
Keywords
Luhmann, Systems Theory, Faust, Environment, Social Systems, Constructivism, Autopoiesis, Observation, Communication, Psychology, Ecology, Evolution, Reflexivity, Structural Linking, Sense
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this essay?
The essay explores the relationship between the environment and the societal ambition to control nature, using Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory as an analytical framework.
What are the primary themes discussed?
Key themes include the constructivist nature of reality, the concept of autopoiesis, the distinction between psychological and social systems, and the inevitability of environmental feedback.
What is the main research question?
The author asks how Luhmann’s theory explains the interaction between an observing system and its environment, specifically using Act 5 of Goethe’s Faust II as a case study.
Which scientific method is employed?
The essay utilizes theoretical application and literary interpretation, applying abstract sociological concepts to analyze the actions and perspectives of characters within a literary work.
What does the main body address?
The main body examines the mechanics of system operation, including the "system/environment difference," "re-entry," the role of observers, and the nature of communication in social systems.
Which keywords characterize this work?
The work is defined by concepts such as systems theory, autopoiesis, social construction, environment, and ecological communication.
How does the author interpret Faust’s actions through systems theory?
The author views Faust as an "operative-closed" psychological system that ignores external environmental warnings to satisfy its own internal requirement for effectiveness and control.
Why is the "blind spot" concept important in this study?
It highlights that every observer, including the author and the reader, is limited by their own system-specific perspective, making an "objective" view of reality impossible.
What is the significance of the "system/environment difference"?
It is the foundational distinction of Luhmann's theory, asserting that an environment only exists in relation to the system observing it, thereby rendering the environment a system-relative construction.
- Quote paper
- Stephanie Thanheiser (Author), 2007, Luhmanns "Systemtheorie" and his understanding of the environment at the example of Goethes "Faust II, act 5", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/69628
