Luhmann and Epistemology

The research question of this paper is what epistemology is following Niklas Luhmann.
Another way of framing the research question is what cognition is in Luhmann’s theory of social systems. The aim of the paper is both to provide a solid analysis of what cognition is in the theory and to introduce the theory as such from an epistemological angle. First, the paper provides a short overview of the systems theory by Luhmann and then fleshes out science as a functional system. Then the paper describes and analyses Luhmann’s epistemology, how systems through observations and observations of observations and self-reflection construct cognition. Finally, the paper discusses Luhmann as a constructivist in comparison with other constructivists and critics of his position. The conclusion is that Luhmann is an epistemic constructivist,
respectively a poststructuralist correlationist that provides a solid theory of cognition with no solid ground of knowledge except observation of observation and outdifferentiation of social systems. The contribution of the paper is foremost that it concretely fleshes out an understanding and discussion of Luhmann’s systems theory from an epistemological angle which is nowhere else to be found.