Article

Name: Meaning and Linguistic Sign in System Theory of Niklas Luhmann

Authors: S. T. Zolyan

Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad, Russian Federation); Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law, National Academy of Sciences (Yerevan, Armenia)

Abstract: The concept of meaning and communication is the core of the sociological conception of Niklas Luhmann. As he claims, “Meaning is co-present as a reference to the world in everything that is actualized... Society is a meaning constituting system” (Luhmann Niklas. Theory of Society. Stanford University Press, 2012, vol. 1). He considers the issue of a correlation of meaning with other concepts of his theory of social in almost all of his works. Obviously, on this occasion the linguistic issues also became matters of consideration. Language, however, is associated by Luhmann not so much with the production of meaning as with communication. The concept of a linguistic sign as some fixed connection between the signified and the signifier is transformed by Luhmann into a dynamic operation of juxtaposing communicative and cognitive characteristics, as a medium between cognition and communication.

Keywords: Luhmann, meaning, linguistic sign, system theory

Bibliography:

Antonovskiy A. Y. Vmesto zaklyucheniya: smysl kak konnektivnyy mekhanizm v yazyke, soznanii i kommunikatsii [ Instead of a conclusion: meaning as a connective mechanism in language, consciousness and communication]. In: Antonovsky A. Yu. Niklas Luhmann: epistemologicheskoye vvedeniye v teoriyu sotsial'nykh sistem [Niklas Luman: epistemological introduction to the theory of social systems]. Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy. Moscow, 2007, p. 95–122. (in Russ.)

Calise S. G. Language and Systems Theory: Critical Remarks on the Luhmannian Conception. Sociology, 2020, vol. 3, no. 52, p. 207–221.

Deutschman P. «Kommunikatsiya», «kul'tura» i «obshchestvo» v teorii sistem Niklasa Lumana [“Communication”, “Culture” and “Society” in the Theory of Niklas Luman Systems]. In: Peresekaya granitsy: mezhkul'turnaya kommunikatsiya v global'nom kontekste [Crossing Borders: Intercultural Communication in a Global Context]. Eds. N. G. Bragina, A. G. Zhukova. Moscow, IRL Publ., 2018, p. 87–89. (in Russ.)

Halliday M. A. K. Language as Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning. Baltimore, University Park Press, 1978, 256 p.

Luhmann N. Meaning as Sociology's Basic Concept. In: Essays on Self- Reference. New York, Columbia University Press, 1990, p. 21–79.

Luhmann N. Sign as Form. In: Baecker D. (ed.). Problems of Form. Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1999, p. 46–63.

Luhmann N. Obshchestvo kak sotsial'naya sistema [Society as a social system]. Trans. by A. Antonovskiy. Moscow, Logos, 2004, 232 p. (in Russ.)

Luhmann N Media kommunikatsii [Media Communication]. Trans. by A. Glukhov, O. Nikiforov. Moscow, Logos, 2005, 280 p. (in Russ.)

Luhmann N. Evolyutsiya [ Evolution]. Trans. by A. Antonovskiy

Luhmann N. Chto proiskhodit i chto za etim kroyetsya? Dve sotsiologii i teoriya obshchestva [What is happening and what is behind it? Two sociologies and the theory of society]. Sotsiologicheskoye obozreniye, 2007, vol. 6, no. 3, p. 100–117. (in Russ.)

Luhmann N. Sotsial'nyye sistemy. Ocherk obshchey teorii [Social systems. Essay on the General Theory]. Ed. by N. A. Golovin; trans. by I. D. Gaziev. St. Petersburg, Nauka, 2007, 641 p. (in Russ.)

Luhmann N. Vvedeniye v sistemnuyu teoriyu [Introduction to Systems Theory]. Ed. by D. Becker; trans. by K. Timofeyeva. Moscow, Logos, 2007, 359 p. (in Russ.)

Maurer K. Communication and Language in Niklas Luhmann’s Systems- Theory. Pandaemonium germanicum, 2010, vol. 16, no. 2, р. 1–21.

Nazarchuk A. V. Ucheniye Niklasa Lumana o kommunikatsii [Niklas Luhmann’s Teachings on Communication]. Moscow, Ves’ mir Publ., 2012, 248 p. (in Russ.)

Smirnov G. P. Translyatsiya smysla v sotsial’noy kommunikatsii: kriticheskiy analiz teorii N. Lumana [Translation of meaning in social communication: a critical analysis of N. Luhmann’s theory]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Seriya 12, 2011, no. 2, p. 293–299. (in Russ.)

Stäheli U. The Hegemony of Meaning: Is There an Exit to Meaning in Niklas Luhmann’s Systems Theory? Revue internationale de philosophie, 2012, no. 1 (259), p. 105–122.

Tóth B. The Term ‘Sense’ in Niklas Luhmann’s Theory. Belvedere Meridionale, 2015, vol. 27, no. 1, p. 126–133.

Weber M. Osnovnyye sotsiologicheskiye ponyatiya [Basic sociological concepts]. In: Weber M. Izbr. proizvedeniya [Selected works]. Moscow, 1990, p. 602–643. (in Russ.)

Zeige L. E. From Saussure to sociology and back to linguistics: Niklas Luhmann’s reception of significant / signifié and langue / parole as the basis for a model of language change. Semiotica, 2015, iss. 207, p. 327–368.

Zhukov L. B. Filosofskaya skhema Lumana: Opyt filosofskoy interpretatsii obshchey teorii sistem Niklasa Lumana [The philosophical scheme of Luhmann: The experience of philosophical interpretation of the general theory of systems of Niklas Luman]. Moscow, URSS, 2019, 248 (in Russ.)

Zolyan S. T. K probleme smysla v sotsial'noy semiotike: Maks Veber segodnya [On the problem of meaning in social semiotics: Max Weber today]. Slovo.ru: baltiyskiy aktsent, 2018, vol. 9, no. 4, p. 27–42. (in Russ.)