Power symbols express stabilized possibility, not resemblance to what is possible.
Evidence
As symbolized potentials, conceptual arrangements have identifiable characteristics. They achieve simplification by dispensing with illustrating or anticipating what is possible. They are not models, maps or plans; they do not need to resemble what is possible. Instead they take for granted – almost as a functional equivalent for similarity – time, and opportunities which arise with time. Symbols express a stabilized possibility, a readiness of the system to act as its own catalyst which can become productive, if further conditions arise. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 639
Categorization
Category: Definitional Content
Related
- Symbolization collapses complex power conditions into experienced units. (similarity 0.86)
- Physical force achieves effects largely free of symbolic preconditions (similarity 0.85)
- Physical force mediates power’s symbolic and organic levels, differentiating political power (similarity 0.82)
- Power operates as modalized possibility rather than actual force or capability (similarity 0.81)
- Power can be analyzed as a symbolically generalized communication medium. (similarity 0.81)
- Power and truth are symbolically generalized media that regulate motivation for acceptance. (similarity 0.81)
- Legitimacy and physical force are symbolically interlinked, not opposites (similarity 0.80)
- Power is code-guided communication, not a property possessed by anyone (similarity 0.79)
- Even the most powerful now are objects without autonomy (similarity 0.78)
- Power operates as a communication medium of conditional alternative-pairs, not raw force (similarity 0.78)
- Power operates through indirect communication, not direct action (similarity 0.78)
- Power as a medium emerges only when contingent selection can be negated (similarity 0.78)
- Dispositional concepts like strength and ability conceal power’s modal nature. (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Power operates through symbolic influence while coercion abandons symbolic generalization
#expands(0.85) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 596 - Power rests on arrangements over what is possible
#expands(0.80) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 791 - Power operates partly through perception rather than explicit verbal communication
#expands(0.75) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 684 - Physical force achieves effects largely free of symbolic preconditions
#contradicts(0.70) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 705 - Power cannot self-realize but depends on societal-structural conditions for legitimacy
#expands(0.60) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 743