IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/syspar/v29y2016i6d10.1007_s11213-016-9380-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Emergence: A Systems Theory’s Challenge to Ethics

Author

Listed:
  • Vladislav Valentinov

    (Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development)

  • Stefan Hielscher

    (Martin Luther University)

  • Ingo Pies

    (Martin Luther University)

Abstract

The paper reconstructs Niklas Luhmann’s diagnosis of the dysfunctional character of moral communication in the modern society by emphasizing the emergent character of today’s moral problems. In the systems-theoretic literature, emergence means the irreducibility of the properties of the whole to the characteristics of its parts. Two arguments have been advanced. First, the dysfunctional character of moral communication has been traced back to the emergent character of many moral problems. Moral communication has thus been shown to be not inherently dysfunctional, but rather needful of semantic forms that take account of the emergent properties of the economic and other social systems. Second, these properties highlight the moral aspect of the precariousness of system–environment relations as seen by Luhmann. As a moral problem, this precariousness can be resolved through greater sensitivity of social systems to their environment, social and natural alike. Accordingly, the emergent properties of the economic and other social systems can be captured by recasting the concept of responsibility as the individual-level or organizational-level projection of the environmental sensitivity of these systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Vladislav Valentinov & Stefan Hielscher & Ingo Pies, 2016. "Emergence: A Systems Theory’s Challenge to Ethics," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 29(6), pages 597-610, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:syspar:v:29:y:2016:i:6:d:10.1007_s11213-016-9380-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11213-016-9380-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11213-016-9380-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11213-016-9380-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Valentinov, Vladislav & Vaceková, Gabriela, 2015. "Sustainability of Rural Nonprofit Organizations: Czech Republic and Beyond," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 7(8), pages 9890-9906.
    2. Vladislav Valentinov & Gabriela Vaceková, 2015. "Sustainability of Rural Nonprofit Organizations: Czech Republic and Beyond," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(8), pages 1-17, July.
    3. Vladislav Valentinov & Lioudmila Chatalova, 2014. "Transaction Costs, Social Costs and Open Systems: Some Common Threads," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 316-326, March.
    4. Steffen Roth, 2013. "Common values? Fifty-two cases of value semantics copying on corporate websites," Post-Print hal-01053523, HAL.
    5. Hielscher, Stefan & Beckmann, Markus & Pies, Ingo, 2014. "Participation versus Consent: Should Corporations Be Run according to Democratic Principles?1," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(4), pages 533-563, October.
    6. Davis, Keith, 1975. "Five propositions for social responsibility," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 19-24, June.
    7. J. Maurice Clark, 1916. "The Changing Basis of Economic Responsibility," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 209-209.
    8. Edmund S. Phelps, 2008. "Macroeconomics for a Modern Economy," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 52(1), pages 3-22, March.
    9. R. H. Coase, 2013. "The Problem of Social Cost," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 837-877.
    10. William J. Baumol, 2013. "The Microtheory of Innovative Entrepreneurship," Journal of Economic Sociology, National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 14(3), pages 96-108.
    11. Nien-Tsu Tuan & Corrinne Shaw, 2016. "Consideration of Ethics in Systemic Thinking," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 51-60, February.
    12. Markus Beckmann & Stefan Hielscher & Ingo Pies, 2014. "Commitment Strategies for Sustainability: How Business Firms Can Transform Trade‐Offs Into Win–Win Outcomes," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 18-37, January.
    13. Ole Thyssen, 2009. "Business Ethics and Organizational Values," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-25093-2, December.
    14. Valentinov, Vladislav, 2014. "K. William Kapp's theory of social costs: A Luhmannian interpretation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 28-33.
    15. Steffen Roth, 2014. "The things that go without saying. On performative differences between business value communication and communication on business values," Post-Print hal-01053515, HAL.
    16. Steffen Roth, 2014. "The things that go without saying: on performative differences between business value communication and communication on business values," International Journal of Business Performance Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 15(3), pages 175-191.
    17. Rossen Kazakov & Martin Kunc, 2016. "Foreseeing the Dynamics of Strategy: An Anticipatory Systems Perspective," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 1-25, February.
    18. Elsner, Wolfram & Schwardt, Henning, 2014. "Trust and arena size: expectations, institutions, and general trust, and critical population and group sizes," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(1), pages 107-134, March.
    19. Valentinov, Vladislav, 2015. "From equilibrium to autopoiesis: A Luhmannian reading of Veblenian evolutionary economics," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 143-155.
    20. Kristof van Assche & Raoul Beunen & Martijn Duineveld, 2014. "Evolutionary Governance Theory," SpringerBriefs in Economics, Springer, edition 127, number 978-3-319-00984-1, April.
    21. Pies, Ingo & Hielscher, Stefan & Beckmann, Markus, 2009. "Moral Commitments and the Societal Role of Business: An Ordonomic Approach to Corporate Citizenship," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(3), pages 375-401, July.
    22. Vladislav Valentinov & Lioudmila Chatalova, 2016. "Institutional Economics and Social Dilemmas: a Systems Theory Perspective," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 138-149, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vladislav Valentinov, 2019. "The Ethics of Functional Differentiation: Reclaiming Morality in Niklas Luhmann’s Social Systems Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 105-114, March.
    2. Stefan Hielscher & Ingo Pies & Vladislav Valentinov & Lioudmila Chatalova, 2016. "Rationalizing the GMO Debate: The Ordonomic Approach to Addressing Agricultural Myths," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-10, May.
    3. Lioudmila Chatalova & Daniel Müller & Vladislav Valentinov & Alfons Balmann, 2016. "The Rise of the Food Risk Society and the Changing Nature of the Technological Treadmill," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-10, June.
    4. Taras Gagalyuk & Vladislav Valentinov & Franziska Schaft, 2018. "The Corporate Social Responsibility of Ukrainian Agroholdings: the Stakeholder Approach Revisited," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 31(6), pages 675-698, December.
    5. Pies, Ingo, 2022. "30 Jahre Wirtschaftsethik: Zur Entwicklung des ordonomischen Forschungsprogramms," Discussion Papers 2022-02, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Chair of Economic Ethics.
    6. Hielscher, Stefan & Pies, Ingo & Valentinov, Vladislav & Chatalova, Lioudmila, 2016. "Rationalizing the GMO debate: The ordonomic approach to addressing agricultural myths," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 13(5), pages 1-10.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Steven E. Wallis & Vladislav Valentinov, 2017. "A Limit to Our Thinking and Some Unanticipated Moral Consequences: A Science of Conceptual Systems Perspective with Some Potential Solutions," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 103-116, April.
    2. Vladislav Valentinov & Lioudmila Chatalova, 2016. "Institutional Economics, Social Dilemmas, and the Complexity-Sustainability Trade-off (A response to Hielscher and Pies)," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 488-491, May.
    3. Vladislav Valentinov, 2019. "The Ethics of Functional Differentiation: Reclaiming Morality in Niklas Luhmann’s Social Systems Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 105-114, March.
    4. Valentinov, Vladislav, 2015. "From equilibrium to autopoiesis: A Luhmannian reading of Veblenian evolutionary economics," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 143-155.
    5. Stefan Hielscher & Ingo Pies, 2016. "Emergent Social Dilemmas in Modern Society: An Institutional Economics Perspective (A comment on Valentinov and Chatalova)," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 483-487, May.
    6. Vladislav Valentinov & Martina Bolečeková & Gabriela Vaceková, 2017. "The Nonprofit Response to the Migration Crisis: Systems-Theoretic Reflections on the Austrian and Slovak Experiences," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 30(6), pages 651-661, December.
    7. Pies, Ingo, 2022. "30 Jahre Unternehmensethik: Ein ordonomischer Rückblick, Überblick und Ausblick," Discussion Papers 2022-01, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Chair of Economic Ethics.
    8. Vladislav Valentinov, 2017. "The Rawlsian Critique of Utilitarianism: A Luhmannian Interpretation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 25-35, April.
    9. Pies, Ingo, 2022. "30 Jahre Wirtschaftsethik: Zur Entwicklung des ordonomischen Forschungsprogramms," Discussion Papers 2022-02, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Chair of Economic Ethics.
    10. Felix Carl Schultz & Vladislav Valentinov & Robert Jaroslav Reinhardt & Ingo Pies, 2024. "The circular economy rebound effect: Reconceptualizing rebound approaches and mitigation opportunities from an ordonomic perspective," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 28(3), pages 374-385, June.
    11. Valentinov, Vladislav & Hielscher, Stefan & Pies, Ingo, 2015. "Nonprofit organizations, institutional economics, and systems thinking," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 491-501.
    12. Hielscher, Stefan & Pies, Ingo & Valentinov, Vladislav & Chatalova, Lioudmila, 2016. "Rationalizing the GMO debate: The ordonomic approach to addressing agricultural myths," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 13(5), pages 1-10.
    13. Pies, Ingo & Hielscher, Stefan & Everding, Sebastian, 2020. "Do hybrids impede sustainability? How semantic reorientations and governance reforms can produce and preserve sustainability in sharing business models," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 174-185.
    14. Schultz, Felix Carl & Valentinov, Vladislav & Reinhardt, Robert Jaroslav & Pies, Ingo, 2024. "The circular economy rebound effect: Reconceptualizing rebound approaches and mitigation opportunities from an ordonomic perspective," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 28(3), pages 374-385.
    15. Kaivo-oja, Jari & Roth, Steffen, 2015. "The Technological Future of Work and Robotics," EconStor Preprints 118693, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    16. Will, Matthias Georg, 2011. "Change Management und nicht-monetäre Vergütungen: Wie der organisatorische Wandel das Mitarbeiterverhalten beeinflusst," Discussion Papers 2011-18, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Chair of Economic Ethics.
    17. Valentinov, Vladislav, 2022. "Stakeholder theory and the knowledge problem: A Hayekian perspective," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 536-545.
    18. Steffen Roth, 2015. "The cash is in the medium, not in the machine: Toward the golden moments of 3D printing," Working Papers hal-01206562, HAL.
    19. Roth, Steffen & Dana, Léo-Paul, 2015. "What is a self-made expat? Self-disclosures of self-initiated expatriates," EconStor Preprints 110355, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    20. Chatalova, Lioudmila & Müller, Daniel & Valentinov, Vladislav & Balmann, Alfons, 2016. "The rise of the food risk society and the changing nature of the technological treadmill," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 8(6), pages 1-10.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:syspar:v:29:y:2016:i:6:d:10.1007_s11213-016-9380-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.