社会杂志 ›› 2025, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (5): 173-204.

• 论文 • 上一篇    下一篇

社会系统理论的社会学启蒙方案：以卢曼1967年就职演讲为线索的考察

周忠贤()   

  • 出版日期:2025-09-20 发布日期:2025-10-27
  • 作者简介:周忠贤  中国社会科学院大学社会与民族学院, E-mail：18811357832@163.com
  • 基金资助:
    中国社会科学院大学研究生科研创新支持计划“观察功能分化的现代社会：卢曼的系统理论研究及其当代意义”(2025-KY-071)

The Program of Sociological Enlightenment in Social Systems Theory : An Examination Centered on Luhmann's 1967 Inaugural Lecture

Zhongxian ZHOU()   

  • Online:2025-09-20 Published:2025-10-27
  • About author:ZHOU Zhongxian, School of Sociology and Ethnology, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, E-mail: 18811357832@163.com
  • Supported by:
    "the Research on Functionally Differentiated Modern Society: Luhmann's System Theory and Its Contemporary Significance" under the Graduate Research Innovation Support Program of the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences(2025-KY-071)

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摘要：

卢曼的社会系统理论隐含了用社会学的理论和方法来观察和描述功能分化社会的社会学启蒙旨趣。本文以卢曼1967年就职演讲《社会学启蒙》为线索，系统考察了他的社会学启蒙方案。这篇演讲的重要性在于它不仅是卢曼从经验研究转向理论研究的标志，也是理解社会系统理论的线索，奠定了他后期社会系统理论建构的基调与方向。首先，1967年就职演讲勾勒了以系统理性取代主体理性的社会学启蒙方案的探索，这不仅是卢曼社会系统理论的“宣言”，也表明了他对宏大社会理论的雄心；其次，为了克服传统功能主义系统理论的局限性，卢曼以功能—结构系统理论来完成对帕森斯结构—功能系统理论的改造，在认识论上以系统/环境取代整体/部分的系统范式，将社会复杂性问题作为理论问题，在方法论上要求最大限度地挖掘不同系统范畴的抽象可能性，将系统比较扩展到尽可能多的不同类型的系统，在这一范式中探寻社会学自我理解的新起点；最后，社会学启蒙的理论抱负不仅是关于实践相关性的反思，还是关于一个全面的社会系统的理论反思，它要求社会理论具备跨学科联系的能力，以及解析社会其他功能领域反思理论的能力，为我们理解功能分化社会以及社会学理论的定位提供了一种“另类启蒙”思路。

关键词: 尼克拉斯·卢曼, 社会系统, 社会学启蒙, 复杂性化约

Abstract:

Niklas Luhmann's social systems theory contains an implicit orientation toward a sociological enlightenment aimed at observing and describing functionally differentiated society through the theories and methods of sociology. This paper, taking Luhmann's 1967 Inaugural Lecture(Soziologische Aufklärung) as its guiding thread, systematically examines his program of sociological enlightenment. The importance of this manuscript lies in its establishment of the tone and direction for Luhmann's later development of social systems theory. It marks not only his declaration of a shift from empirical research to theoretical exploration but also provides a key to understanding his social systems theory. Firstly, the 1967 Inaugural Lecture outlines Luhmann's exploration of replacing subject-oriented rationality with system-oriented rationality in sociological enlightenment. It serves not only as a "manifesto" for social systems theory but also demonstrates Luhmann's ambition to construct a grand theory of society based on social systems. Secondly, to overcome the limitations of traditional functionalist systems theory, Luhmann transforms Parsons' structure-function system theory by employing a functional-structural system model. Epistemologically, this shift replaces the whole/part system paradigm with the system/environment paradigm, addressing the issue of societal complexity as a theoretical concern. Methodologically, it seeks to maximize the abstract potential of different system categories and extends system comparison to encompass as diverse a range of systems as possible. This paradigm seeks a new starting point for sociological self-understanding. Finally, the theoretical ambition of sociological enlightenment is not only a reflection on practical relevance but also a comprehensive theoretical reflection on social systems, which demands that social theory possesses the capacity for interdisciplinary connections and the ability to reflect on the theories of other functional areas in society. This provides an alternative perspective for understanding functionally differentiated societies and the positioning of sociological theory.

Key words: Niklas Luhmann, social system, sociological enlightenment, reduction of complexity