Observations on Modernity Writing Science by Niklas Luhmann PAPERBACK

Observations on ModernityAuthor(s): Niklas Luhmann, William Whobrey\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Stanford University Press, United States\nImprint: Stanford University Press\nISBN-13: 9780804732352, 978-0804732352\nSynopsis\nThis collection of five essays by Germany's most prominent and influential social thinker both links Luhmann's social theory to the question \""What is modern about modernity?\"" and shows the origins and context of his theory.\n\n In the introductory essay, \""Modernity in Contemporary Society,\"" Luhmann develops the thesis that the modern epistemological situation can be seen as the consequence of a radical change in social macrostructures that he calls \""social differentiation,\"" thereby designating the juxtaposition of and interaction between a growing number of social subsystems without any hierarchical structure. \""European Rationality\"" defines rationality as the capacity to see the difference between systems and their environment as a unity. Luhmann argues""