PrefaceI. Introduction1. The Trojan Horse: Luhmann's (Not So) Hidden Radicalism2. Why He Wrote Such Bad BooksII. From Philosophy to Theory3. The Fourth Insult: A Refutation of Humanism4. From Necessity to Contingency: A Carnivalization of Philosophy5. The Last Footnote to Plato: A Solution to the Mind-Body Problem6. Ecological Evolution: A Challenge to Social Creationism7. Constructivism as Postmodernist Realism: A Teaching of Differences8. Democracy as a Utopia: A Deconstruction of Politics9. Conclusion. Nec spe nec metu: Neither Hope nor FearAppendix: Niklas Luhmann (1927--1998): A Short Intellectual BiographyAbbreviationsNotesIndex.