ABSTRACT
Niklas Luhmann formulated a sociological theory of social systems and dwelt on this notion possibly more extensively than any other social theorist has done so far. The social system has been Luhmann's main object of analysis. The complexity of the social system can correspond, or be adequate at least, to its environment's complexity only by means of selection and reduction of the environments' complexity. The stability of the social system is premised on the loose coupling of the social processes, as loosely coupled conflicts are less difficult to isolate, and their effects tend therefore not to be far reaching. Functional analysis dwells on the functions of the social system or of one of its subsystems. Luhmann has offered, according to Nassehi, a realistic conception of social differentiation. Luhmann's autopoietic conception of modern society lays stress on the latter process; it is therefore misleading to connote the modern social system as functional.
