Can social systems be autopoietic? Bhaskar's and Giddens' social theories

Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 34 (4):403–427 (2004)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The theory of autopoiesis, that is systems that are self-producing or self-constructing, was originally developed to explain the particular nature of living as opposed to non-living entities. It was subsequently enlarged to encompass cognition and language leading to what is known as second-order cybernetics. However, as with earlier biological theories, many authors have tried to extend the domain of the theory to encompass social systems, the most notable being Luhmann. The pur-pose of this paper is to consider critically the extent to which the theory of autopoiesis, as originally defined, can be applied to social systems-that is, whether social systems are autopoietic. And, if it cannot, whether some weaker version might be appropriate. It addresses this question by considering whether autopoiesis can be applied to the theoretical conceptions of Giddens and Bhaskar. It follows an earlier paper that evaluated Luhmann's autopoietic social theory

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

The epistemological argument against socialism: A Wittgensteinian critique of Hayek and Giddens.Nigel Pleasants - 1997 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 40 (1):23 – 45.
Signs, social ontology, and critical realism.Tobin Nellhaus - 1998 - Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 28 (1):1–24.
Autonomy and tradition: a critique of the sociological and philosophical foundations of giddens’s utopian realism.Steven Groarke - 2004 - Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 7 (3):34-51.
The structure of social theory.Anthony King - 2004 - New York: Routledge.

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
31 (#445,254)

6 months
1 (#1,040,386)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?