Law (a self-generated system)

Author: (German) Gunther Teubner, translated by Zhang Qi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: This book elaborates on the historical development of the theory of legal autopoiesis, an important academic school and methodology in legal theory that emerged in Germany and then spread across Europe over the past decade or so. This legal theory views the autonomy of law within a self-reproducing communication network and considers its relationship with society as interference with other autonomous communication networks. Part of the World Legal Classics Series · Legal Theory Series. Currently, the debate in legal theory is dominated by a futile and unproductive division. On the one hand, analytical theory focuses on the reality of law but risks losing the relationship between law and society; on the other hand, sociological methods analyze various social interactions within law but fail to develop conceptual tools for fairly addressing the autonomy of law. Autopoiesis theory offers law an opportunity to avoid the false choice between an autonomous rule system or a socially constrained decision-making process. This legal theory views the autonomy of law within a self-reproducing communication network and considers its relationship with society as interference with other autonomous communication networks. Based on the ideas of Humberto Maturana, Heinz von Foerster, and Niklas Luhmann, Gunther Teubner applies the concepts of self-organization and autopoiesis to develop a concept that views law as a socially closed supercycle system. This book will serve as a milestone in legal theory and will become a starting point for the development of legal sociology.