Psychic and Social Systems
In this seminar we will focus on the complex relationship between physical, psychological and social processes in the context of psychosomatic phenomena. Sense and self play a decisive role in the mediation of body, psyche and social processes. Based on Fritz Simon (2018), the ‘self-responsible, acting self’ can be seen ‘as a solution to the problem that results from the structural conflict that every mental system has to decide again and again when it is confronted with the contradictory structurally determined functional logics of physical and social processes.’ Following on from this, we will examine the extent to which the failure to construct the self can lead to therapy and how various psychosomatic clinics can help to ensure that constructions of meaning and the self can succeed again. This then leads us to reflect intensively on (psycho)therapeutic practice.
We deal with the phenomenon of psychosomatics using both systems theory perspectives and empirical material from psychosomatic therapy and also draw on cultural anthropological literature for cultural comparison.
Hannah Cramer, M.A.
Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Lehrstuhl für Soziologie
Doktorandin zum Thema: Sinnrekonfigurationen in der stationären psychosomatischen Therapie
Dr. Jonathan Harth
Zu meinen aktuellen Forschungsschwerpunkten zählen vor allem die Potentiale und Möglichkeiten von Extended Reality Technologien im Bereich der Kunstproduktion sowie in Bezug auf ihre phänomenologischen Fragestellungen. Darüber hinaus arbeite ich an Fragestellungen zu Herausforderungen und Chancen von Sozialität unter Bedingungen künstlicher Intelligenz. Neben meiner Tätigkeit am Lehrstuhl für Soziologie der Universität Witten/Herdecke arbeite ich derzeit als Berater für das Forschungsprojekt Theater der erweiterten Realitäten am Theater an der Ruhr in Mülheim. jonathanharth.de
Objectives & Competences
The course introduces central concepts of Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory. Thematic focuses include meaning, self-reference, the system/environment distinction, communication, and the relationship between psychic, social, and bodily systems. Students acquire a basic understanding of systems-theoretical thinking and learn to approach complex phenomena not in causal-linear terms, but from a difference-theoretical perspective. At the level of practice, they develop the ability to reflect on social situations, self-descriptions, and professional practice using systems-theoretical concepts.