The society of society: The grand finale of Niklas Luhman. Sociological Theory 18(2

even a partially adequate theory of society. Epistemological obstacles and humanist concerns for rationality and justice have prevented true progress in the discipline. With his “radically antihumanist, radically antiregional, and radically constructivistic ” social system theory, Luhmann intends to bring about a sociological enlightenment. Die Gesell-schaft der Gesellschaft focuses on communication as the only genuinely social phenom-enon. Social systems differentiate and evolve as they communicate in three separate dimensions: the social, temporal, and functional. The path of evolution results from a history of variation, selection, and restabilization within these dimensions. Communi-cation, bit by bit, produces social structures that, recursively, produce future structures. Society is communication. Sociology, as the science of society, is communication about how different societal systems operate, communicate, evolve, and maintain their boundaries. When Niklas Luhmann began his career as a sociologist at the University of Bielefeld in 1969, his colleagues confronted him with the question of his research agenda. The former lawyer replied that his project was to develop a “theory of society. ” He added that it woul