Last Updated on September 11, 2025 by Karl Thompson
Niklas Luhmann (1927–1998) was a German sociologist best known for developing systems theory, a highly influential way of analysing modern society. Luhmann argued that society is not made up of individuals, but of communications. According to his theory, modern life is divided into distinct social systems – such as the economy, law, education, politics, and religion – each of which functions through its own unique form of communication. Crucially, these systems cannot directly interact with one another without help: they require what Luhmann called structural couplings to enable limited communication across boundaries.
This post provides a clear overview of Luhmann’s systems theory, explains what he meant by “only communication can communicate,” and explores why his ideas remain central to understanding how advanced capitalist societies function.
Luhmann’s systems theory in brief:
- Modern society has distinct social systems (the economy, the law, education, politics, and so on).
- These systems give meaning to the world, yet they consist not of people but of communications.
- Structural couplings enable restricted communications between the different communication systems.
- Each system processes activities and problems in its own distinctive way, so cannot connect to other systems without assistance.
Society is a system of systems
Modernity’s defining feature, according to German sociologist Niklas Luhmann, is advanced capitalist society’s differentiation into separate social systems – the economic, educational, scientific, legal, political, religious, and so on. Luhmann argues that the term “society” refers to the system that encompasses all the other systems: society is, he says, the system of systems.
Society’s base element is communication
Individuals, Luhmann insists, are socially meaningless. Society’s base element is not the human actor but “communication” – a term that he defines as the “synthesis of information, utterance, and understanding” arising out of the events – the activities and ways of communicating – peculiar to itself; it is relatively indifferent to what takes place in the other systems (and the wider society). So, for example, the economic system is functionally dedicated to its own interests and is uninterested in moral issues, except where these might have an impact on the profitability of economic activities and transactions – whereas moral concerns are of great consequence in, say, the religious system.
Structural couplings
Luhmann uses George Spencer-Brown’s ideas on the mathematical laws of form to define a “structural coupling” between systems – essentially a means of communication between them. In Luhmann’s terms, a system’s environment is constituted by other systems. For example, the environment of a family system includes other families, the political system, the medical system, and so on. Crucially, each individual system can only make sense of the events – the activities and ways of communicating – peculiar to itself; it is relatively indifferent to what takes place in the other systems (and the wider society).
Luhmann identifies this lack of systems integration as one of the major problems confronting advanced capitalist societies. He identifies what he calls “structural couplings” – certain forms of institutionalised integration that help the communications produced by one system inform the communications produced by another and that both can understand. Examples include a constitution, which couples the legal and political systems, and a university, which couples the educational and, among others, economic systems.
“Humans cannot communicate, not even their brains can communicate; not even their conscious minds can communicate.”
Niklas Luhmann
Who was Niklass Luhmann?
Niklas Luhmann studied law at the University of Freiburg, Germany, from 1946 to 1949, before becoming a civil servant in 1956. He spent 1960 to 1961 on sabbatical at Harvard University, USA, studying sociology and administrative science, where he was taught by Talcott Parsons.
In 1966 Luhmann received his doctorate in sociology from the University of Münster and in 1968 he became professor of sociology at the University of Bielefeld, where he remained.
Luhmann was the recipient of several honorary degrees, and in 1988 he was the winner of the prestigious Hegel Prize, awarded to prominent thinkers by the city of Stuttgart. He was a prolific writer, with some 377 publications to his name.
Luhmann: Key works
- 1972 A Sociological Theory of Law
- 1984 Social Systems
- 1997 Theory of Society (two volumes)
Niklas luhmann KEY DATES
- 1937 US sociologist Talcott Parsons discusses systems theory in The Structure of Social Action.
- 1953 Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein’s concept of language games is published posthumously and influences Luhmann’s ideas on communication.
- 1969 Laws of Form by British mathematician George Spencer-Brown underpins Luhmann’s ideas about structural differentiation.
- 1987 German sociologist Jürgen Habermas engages Luhmann in critical debate about systems theory.
- 2009 Luhmann’s ideas are applied by Greek scholar Andreas Mihalopoulos in his analysis of the criminal justice and legal systems.
Signposting
This material is mainly relevant to the theory and methods topic although this isn’t a core theory for A level sociology.