Art as a Social System

Through an interdisciplinary approach, Luhmann clarifies the context and contingency of art while elaborating his theory of society. Returning to 18th century aesthetics, the author argues that art is communication that uses perception instead of language. Maintaining that perception and communication are incommensurable, he nonetheless claims that art operates in the boundary between the social system and consciousness, profoundly irritating communication while remaining internal to the social. Circa 860 bibl. ref. Index 20 p.