2010/11/14 by Loet Leydesdorff, Leydesdorff, Loet
Decision Sciences · Neuroscience · Physics and Astronomy · #Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems (nlin.AO) #Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI) #Complex Systems and Decision Making #Embodied and Extended Cognition #FOS: Computer and information sciences #FOS: Physical sciences #Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence #Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1011.3244
openalex publication_date 2010/11/14 · openalex created_date 2022/10/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The development of discursive knowledge presumes the communication of meaning\nas analytically different from the communication of information. Knowledge can\nthen be considered as a meaning which makes a difference. Whereas the\ncommunication of information is studied in the information sciences and\nscientometrics, the communication of meaning has been central to Luhmann's\nattempts to make the theory of autopoiesis relevant for sociology. Analytical\ntechniques such as semantic maps and the simulation of anticipatory systems\nenable us to operationalize the distinctions which Luhmann proposed as relevant\nto the elaboration of Husserl's "horizons of meaning" in empirical research:\ninteractions among communications, the organization of meaning in\ninstantiations, and the self-organization of interhuman communication in terms\nof symbolically generalized media such as truth, love, and power. Horizons of\nmeaning, however, remain uncertain orders of expectations, and one should\ncaution against reification from the meta-biological perspective of systems\ntheory.\n