Teoria come sistema – teoria dei sistemi. Sulla prassi della costruzione della teoria sociologica in prospettiva teorico-sistemica

The construction of sociological theories can be investigated either from the perspective of the sociology of science or from the perspective of the sociology of knowledge. In the former case, the main concerns are the differentiation of a common conceptual language and the construction of a theory provided with self-referential closure. Both technical-theoretical conditions aim to cope with the complexity of the external world by means of meaning. In the latter case, the claim that every scientific theory is constructed as a theoretical system can be traced back to the epistemological reflections of the 18th century. Since this claim also applies to sociology as a theory of society, the construction of a theory of society and its socio-cultural evolution makes sociology itself a subject of sociological study. Social systems theory fulfils the basic condition that all modern scientific theories must be constructed as theoretical systems and, as a theory of social systems, can co-describe itself while describing society