Third-Order Observation

The transition from reference to observation has emphasized the distinctions that are used to distinguish something from something else.

Second-Order Observation, in turn, has shown that the distinctions on which a reference is based are not mandatory but contingent. Depending on what one distinguishes a castle from, one arrives at different results (castle/castle; castle/hut).

Third-order observation must in turn imply a change of reference, otherwise the approximation of any number of orders of observation could not be avoided by simply stringing together observations of observations .... Fuchs proposes with Luhmann to speak of third-order observation when it comes to the conditions of the possibility of second-order observation.

At the third-order level of observation, it is, provisionally formulated, rather a matter of observing and describing primary disjunctions that are not contingently observable or even 'observable away', i.e. Disjunctions that span tertium-non-datur worlds that are 'defined' by cascades of linking operations, but for which it is true that they cannot jump out of these worlds [....] A term in which these tertium-non-datur worlds are preconceived is: Contexture.

Contextures, in turn, do not exist per se, which would make them ontological, but, like all observations, they are themselves observed, 'inferred'.

It is about the conditions under which a semantics of second-order observation can develop, with social evolution perhaps playing the most important role. It is science that observes the conditions of second-order observation, although it is itself the result of social evolution.

A Contexture is a tertium non-datur world to which there is no alternative. Functional systems are such "worlds". On the one hand, it is not possible to escape them; on the other hand, the multiplicity of such heterogeneous functionalities means that the same event observed in a contexture can also be observed differently. There is neither truth nor error, but only function-bound observations.

Supertheories are not simply "world views" or ideologies, they are based on the differentiation of a special communication system of science within society and relate functionally to structural problems of this system, i.e. they are historically dependent on previous social differentiation processes that made the differentiation of science possible in the first place. Supertheories have only existed recently, perhaps one could say only since Kant, who for the first time saw the need to reformulate theoretical and moral questions (and both in connection with each other) as a reaction to the differentiation of knowledge.

Third-order observation observes observation itself as Form – and only as form and not otherwise possible: observation/observed//"reality", it observes that the system is also only observable as form and thus interprets systems theory as a case of a very general theory of form:

Luhmann assumes that with this very general concept of form, which we can also decouple from the specific thematic use in Spencer Brown, a very general theory could be developed that also goes beyond systems theory [...] We would be dealing with a theory of two-sided forms that can only be used unilaterally. "I am only suggesting this here because it offers the opportunity to reconsider the systems theory approach, despite its universal intention and despite its particularly pronounced scientific nature – there is a great deal of literature on systems theory – and to consider whether one could not develop a general theory of forms that goes beyond it, and then relate it to the concept of number, to mathematics, to semiotics, to systems theory, to the mean form difference between loose coupling and strict coupling and others."

Third-order observation shows that everything that is said is said as a form and can only be said as a form. Furthermore, every form is two-sided, but only one side of the form can be connected at a time. Systems theory is transcended in that the system itself is interpreted as a two-sided form that can be used unilaterally; this theory is only one possible application of the very general theory of two-sided forms that can only be used unilaterally. Systems do not dwell in the world around them, but are observed in the world, and one can only connect on the side of the system, not on the side of its(!) environment. Third-order observation observes the formation itself and the conditions of its possibility. And it observes the conditions of the possibility of second-order observation; it is oriented towards society and evolutionary theory.

Building on this, third-order observation for science can be interpreted as the form-finding form of supertheory. Form-finding operations are third-order observations that observe the previous settings of an event or a system and generate alternatives within the same framework:

Supertheory and its "form-finding form", the third-order level of observation, is similar to what has been understood as metaphysics since antiquity, if one understands it as the project of "identifying an ultimate, superordinate standpoint of its opposition [...] above the opposites". Luhmann does not adopt the gravitational moment of metaphysics (of being), but assumes "that it should be possible to organize a [...] functional succession of metaphysics within science".

Forms of form-finding are not only to be observed in the transdisciplinary field of supertheories of science. Wherever a form is observable whose function is to enable new forms, this is third-order observation. Art (where the term was apparently first used), but also religion/pastoral care and psychotherapy can be interpreted as forms of form-finding.

Art is art as long as it is original; one thing it must never be is a copy. A copy is good craftsmanship, but not art (Code of Art: artistic/craftsmanship?), because it is to be regarded as a copy in functional differentiation. This forces new forms in art and through itself.

Psychotherapy becomes a form of design when unpredictable configurations of meaning emerge in dialog. In contrast to notational metaphors ("concepts"), notational metaphors make it possible to expand the boundaries of meaning, which is why they are often used in pastoral care and psychotherapy.

Religion makes earthly meaning fundamentally contingent, plays with the edges of meaning (What is beyond meaning? What is the meaning of meaning?) and thus stimulates new forms of meaning.

Art and religion are forms of form-finding that enable Creativity. They are ultimately only conditioned by their codes, as otherwise the developments could not be identified as items of their systems. Form-finding as an operation requires a unity, a system. It is therefore obvious to see a form-finding form itself as a system. "We assume that ..."

EMLEIN, Günther, 2017. Das Sinnsystem Seelsorge: Eine Studie zur Frage: Wer tut was, wenn man sagt, dass man sich um die Seele sorgt? Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 978-3-525-62439-5.

FUCHS, Peter, 2016. Der Fuss des Leuchtturms liegt im Dunkeln: eine ernsthafte Studie zu Sinn und Sinnlosigkeit. Weilerswist: Velbrück Wissenschaft. ISBN 978-3-95832-064-2. pdf