| Chapter 1: | Distinctions: Observation, Meaning, and the Reduction of Complexity |
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have been selectively observed by first-order observers (in particular, sociologists observing social systems). An observer self-referentially connects observations to build an imaginary system that can guide the continued use of distinctions. Such a system produces itself from its own elements; it is an autopoietic and self-organized creation of an observer. From this perspective, the world is not filled with objects that are simply available for observation. The sociologist observes a first-order observer constructing a world by relating successive observations of its own design. The sociological task is to understand how distinctions are selectively handled by observers of a social system, and to describe any kind of socially stablized objects that might emerge when these observations are recursively connected back to their own results (Luhmann 2001b:270). These associations, however, can only be pursued by a second-order observer observing first-order observers. This limitation represents a blind spot that results from the fact that an observing system cannot simultaneously observe and reflect on the form of the observation. Stephan Fuchs’ explained,
Depending on the distinction drawn, one can reflexively observe oneself as an observer on the second-order, producing functional, ethical, psychological, sociological, or other kinds of observations about how one operates on the first order. Using the resources of social system theory, therefore, sociology can observe systems as first-order observers, and then observe and describe how sociology is able to make its own observations of systems.