Systems theory cannot legitimately describe either science or society

Evidence

This summary makes it easy to see that systems theory and the kind of legitimation it proposes have no scientific basis whatsoever; science itself does not function according to this theory’s paradigm of the system, and contemporary science excludes the possibility of using such a paradigm to describe society. — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition, 431

Categorization

• XREF: Lyotard’s blunt rejection of systems theory is the sharpest point of disagreement with Luhmann and prefigures Jameson’s contrasting defense of systemic totalization. — connects to: Society’s development cannot be explained by physical laws of quantity.; Social wholes exceed their components, so social law cannot be physical law — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1656

Broader Connections

• Society’s development cannot be explained by physical laws of quantity. #expands (0.72)
• Social wholes exceed their components, so social law cannot be physical law #expands (0.72) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1656