Sociologia dei mezzi di comunicazione. Considerazioni per una teoria generale.

Despite the enormous amount of publications on the subject, sociology has not yet succeeded in providing a clear and unified definition of communication media. Drawing on Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory, which distinguishes different types of media according to the threshold of improbability they must cross (understanding, reaching distant addressees, acceptance), and taking up contributions from different disciplines (Fritz Heider’s psychology, Heinz von Foerster’s cybernetics, and George Spencer Brown’s calculus), this article aims to show that it is possible to approach a unified definition of medium. If by medium we mean a potential in which forms can be imprinted, then it is necessary to distinguish between operational and observational media. The former, corresponding to communication technologies, condition the way Ego and Alter Ego participate in communication, combining, loosely or tightly, information, utterance and understanding. Observational media, on the other hand, enable the construction of reality in its various forms and are specific especially (but not only) to the subsystems of modern society (power, money, scientific truth, etc.)

The Issue of the Constitution in Luhmann‘s Card Index System. Reading the Traces

Schmidt J. The Issue of the Constitution in Luhmann‘s Card Index System. Reading the Traces. In: Febbrajo A, Corsi G, eds. Sociology of Constitutions. A Paradoxical Perspective. Studies in the sociology of law . 1. Auflage. London: Routledge; 2016: 264-281

Adult-type rhabdomyoma of the larynx: clinicopathologic study of an uncommon tumor in a rare location

Rhabdomyoma is an uncommon benign mesenchymal tumor with skeletal muscle differentiation that may occur either in the heart or in extra-cardiac sites. Even though the head and neck region is the most common area of extra-cardiac rhabdomyoma, the larynx is rarely involved. We present the case of an 85-year-old woman who reported a 10-day history of breathing difficulties, dysphagia and dysphonia. A computed tomography scan of the head and neck showed a contrast-enhanced, solid hypopharyngeal-laryngeal neoplasm with well-defined margins causing subtotal obliteration of the right pyriform sinus and a reduction in air lumen of the laryngeal vestibule. The patient underwent complete endoscopic removal of the lesion; histologic examination revealed an adult- type rhabdomyoma based on the histologic features and the immunoreactivity of the neoplastic cells for desmin, myoglobin and muscle-specific actin but not for cytokeratin, S-100, CD68R, chromogranin-A and synaptophysin. Since clinical and imaging features are not specific for rhabdomyoma, histologic examination and immunohistochemical analyses play a central role in the differential diagnosis of the adult-type rhabdomyoma from other laryngeal neoplasms. A correct diagnosis is mandatory to avoid inappropriate treatment

Taking the individual seriously: the relationship individual-society in the system theory

RESUMO Uma das contribuições mais originais da teoria dos sistemas para a sociologia contemporânea é a ideia de que os indivíduos não são parte da sociedade, mas do ambiente. Se o indivíduo é entendido como corpo e consciência, não se pode conceber a sociedade como um conjunto de bilhões de corpos e consciências. Segundo a teoria dos sistemas, a sociedade só pode ser concebida como comunicação. Cada indivíduo constitui um sistema em si, autônomo, uma consciência que se auto-observa e reproduz. Levar o indivíduo a sério significa compreender como ele observa a si mesmo e enfrenta a dimensão social de sua vida - e isso significa que todo discurso sobre "colonização", emancipação, falta de sentido etc. que busca tomar partido do indivíduo, é não apenas teoricamente questionável, mas contraditório, representando apenas o ponto de vista da sociedade e não o do indivíduo. Analisando formas modernas de inclusão social, como a carreira, este artigo argumenta que observar o indivíduo como tal implica começar pelo seu paradoxo - o de ser único como todos os demais.ABSTRACT One of the most original contributions of systems theory to contemporary sociology is the idea that individuals are not part of society, but that they belong to its environment. If we consider the individual as a body and a consciousness, then we cannot conceive society as a set of billions of bodies and consciousnesses. According to systems theory, society can only be conceived as communication. On the other side every individual is a system on its own, an autonomous, self-observing and self-reproducing consciousness. Taking individuals seriously means then to understand how individuals observe themselves and how they face the social dimension of their life - and this means, that every discourse on "colonization", emancipation, meaninglessness, etc., aiming to take the part of individuals, is not only theoretically questionable, but contradictory, representing only the societal, not the individual point of view. Analyzing the modern forms of social inclusion like the career, the paper argues that observing individual as such means starting from its paradox - being unique like everyone else

Meaning (Sinn)

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Religious System (Religionssystem)

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Double Contingency (Doppelte Kontingenz)

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