Grenzen im Sozialen. Zum Systemkern von Plessners Sozialtheorie in seiner ‚Grenzschrift‘ von 1924

Abstract

Boundaries in the Social Sphere: On the Core System of Plessner’s Social Theory in his 1924 Limits of Community. In contrast to the widely cited deconstructivist reading of Plessner’s ‚Boundary Essay‘/’Grenzschrift’ (Helmut Lethen, Verhaltenslehre der Kälte ) – and to all other interpretations that emphasize one or another aspect of Plessner’s work in a critical of Ideology or contemporary way – this article proposes a strict philosophical interpretation of coherence for the text, for which plausible philological evidence exists. There is a core system of the ‘Grenzschrift’ that should be taken into account in future interpretations and applications of Plessner’s work.

The article comprises three steps: After a recapitulation of the historical context, the reception and the debate on the text (1), the second step (2) turns to the systematics of Plessner’s book Limits of Community: There is a systematics of Plessner’s argumentation that has not yet been fully clarified, because it is in a certain way hidden beneath the essayistic style, but fundamentally supports its logic. The focus is on the systematic deduction of “society” and its social categories “ceremony and prestige”, “diplomacy and tact” in the 1924 treatise. Since, according to Plessner, there are undeniable “ limits of community” , there must necessarily be “social categories” of society – this could be a summary of his central thesis. The concluding step (3) asks what historical support Plessner draws upon for the universal status of his social categories.