Communication, their Media and Public Opinion. Notes from the Point of View of the Methodology of the Distinctions and Rational Discourse

Abstract

We consider the “activist” category of communication to be as central as the other two “activists” categories action and decision for a theory of society. In this article we intend to offer a category of communication that differs clearly from the category of action. We see in the proposals of Niklas Luhmann and Jürgen Habbermas the weakness that they do not distinguish in a clear manner both categories from each other. A second aspect of this article resides in our interest of the non-linguistic aspects of the communication in our own concept of communication. A third aspect of this article is to discuss the so-called medial dimensions of communication, the natural media, the media of diffusion and the generalized symbolic media of communication.

A fourth and last point discussed in this article is the concept of “closed system” offered by Luhmann. With the help of the so-called “social identity” –the public opinion– we try to show that there can be another possibility to handle with social systems: they can open and close in a gradual form.