The Architecture of Meaning: Reconstructing Luhmann’s Dimensional Framework

Introduction

Meaning (Sinn) occupies a central position in Niklas Luhmann’s systems-theoretical programme. Coded as the continuous distinction between actual and potential, meaning operates as the shared medium for both psychic and social systems. It enables observation, selection, and the perpetual opening of horizons of possibility. As a medium without an outside, meaning entails inherent blind spots and paradoxes for any meaning-processing observer. To handle with this inescapable paradox of observation, meaning must be structured and processed across objects, time, and social relations.

In his foundational works, Luhmann distinguished three canonical dimensions of meaning: the factual (this/that), the temporal (before/after), and the social (ego/alter). Each dimension relates to a distinct sub-theory of his broader programme—social differentiation, social evolution, and communication, respectively. Furthermore, each dimension corresponds to a dedicated strategy for deparadoxifying the paradox of observation. However, despite the triad’s canonical status in systems theory, Luhmann never adequately addressed the underlying logic of its architecture. Why should meaning be structured into precisely three dimensions rather than more—or fewer? This explicitly unresolved logic invites a critical re-examination of the medium itself.

Recent theoretical contributions have returned to this problem by reconstructing meaning dimensions in relation to the basic questions of observation. By mapping the classic triad to questions of what (factual), when (temporal), and who (social), scholars have begun exploring systematically expandable dimensions. Additional questions—such as where (spatial), how (modal), and why (motivational)—suggest that Luhmann’s triad is not a closed architecture, but rather a reduced form of a broader, potentially open framework. This expanded perspective recasts meaning not as a static, settled concept, but as a highly dynamic medium of observation that allows for alternative distinctions to be drawn and contingency to be processed.

Against this theoretical backdrop, this Special Issue of Kybernetes seeks to revisit and extend the concept of meaning under contemporary conditions of growing societal complexity. As meaning-processing systems confront unprecedented challenges—from the artificial and technological mediation of meaning via AI and algorithmic decision premises, to profound societal polarisation and pathologies of meaninglessness—there is a pressing need for renewed engagement with the medium. We explore how meaning is observed, transformed, stabilised, and contested when interacting with different media, and inter-systemic relations.

This collection aims to create a shared interdisciplinary space for observing how meaning is currently being observed, and for experimenting with alternative ways of doing so. By foregrounding reflexivity, second-order observation, and the continuous processing of contingency, the Special Issue seeks to stimulate theoretical innovation, empirical exploration, and productive friction. Ultimately, it marks a step toward reflecting on the future directions of systems-theoretical scholarship in an era profoundly shaped by technological co-evolution and expanding architectures of meaning.

List of Topic Areas

1. Theoretical work revisiting, or extending established three-dimensional models of meaning (factual, temporal, social). This includes the introduction of novel distinctions (e.g., spatial, modal, motivational), new foundational questions, and expanded sub-programmes within systems theory.
2. Studies focusing on second-order observation, reflexivity, and the inherent paradoxes of observation within social and psychic systems.
3. Analyses of how artificial intelligence, artificial communication, and algorithmic decision premises impact meaning-processing systems, technological co-evolution, and structures of expectation.
4. Explorations of forms of meaning that resist operational closure, reduction, or authoritarian simplification, including the role of imagination, counterfactuals, and non-necessary social orders.
5. Systems-theoretical approaches to current societal challenges, encompassing values, political polarisation, populism, inter-systemic relations, strategies for complexity reduction, and pathologies of meaninglessness.
6. Renewed theoretical and empirical engagement with sense-making, consciousness, psychology, and psychotherapy, with a focus on identity formation and the structural coupling between psychic and social systems.

Submissions Information

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Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key Deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 21/09/2026

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 13/12/2026