»Katastrophen«, »Chaos« und »Selbstorganisation«. Methodologie und sozialwissenschaftliche Heuristik der jüngeren Systemtheorie

Abstract

Current Social Sciences rely more and more on models of »chaos« and »self-organization«. At a closer look, this is not a new paradigma but a loose collection of nature-philosophical and mathematical concepts of variable quality. Tue methodology and the sociological heuristics of these models can be determined precisely. Common feature is their difference to the classical theory of systems. Tue theories of autopoiesis, deterministic chaos and catastrophes consist of different concepts of stability. Interpreted sociologically, this results in different views on social order and in diverging theory-of-action-perspectives.