Abstract
Emile Durkheim, who is well known for the formulation “society is a reality sui generis,” ’is generally considered as the representative proponent of the macro-sociological theory of emergentism. However, his social realism derived from individual psychology. According to Durkheim, the emergent property of individual consciousness cannot be reduced to the physiology of the brain; such irreducibility can analogically be found in the relation between society and individuals. But he lacked an theoretical foundation other than analogy for making this assertion. Niklas Luhmann gives a definite theory to emergentism: communication connects other communications in a self-referential social system makes clear the irreducibility of the social system. Originally, the concept of self-reference includes the tradition of consciousness philosophy. The theory of social systems also results from generalizing knowledge about human consciousness to the social sphere. However, unlike Durkheim, this systems theory even applies the epistemology of consciousness philosophy to social systems, and regards them as subjects that recognize their own environments. Therefore, while Durkheim observed society “as a thing” under its ontological representation, this systems theory takes on an epistemological task to observe social systems as autonomous observers. Social systems are observers sui generis.
