Philosophy of geography is the subfield of

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

which deals with

epistemological Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

, and

axiological Axiology (from Greek , ''axia'': "value, worth"; and , ''-logia'': "study of") is the philosophical study of value. It includes questions about the nature and classification of values and about what kinds of things have value. It is intimately co ...

issues in

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

, with geographic methodology in general, and with more broadly related issues such as the perception and representation of space and place.

Overview

Though methodological issues concerning geographical knowledge have been debated for centuries,

Richard Hartshorne Richard Hartshorne (December 12, 1899 – November 5, 1992) was a prominent American geographer, and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who specialized in economic and political geography and the philosophy of geography. He is k ...

(1899–1992) is often credited with its first major systematic treatment in English, ''The Nature of Geography: A Critical Survey of Current Thought in the Light of the Past'', which appeared in 1939, and which prompted several volumes of critical essays in subsequent decades.

John Kirtland Wright John Kirtland Wright (1891–1969) was an American geographer, notable for his cartography, geosophy, and study of the history of geographical thought. He was the son of classical scholar John Henry Wright and novelist Mary Tappan Wright, and the ...

(1891–1969), an American geographer notable for his

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...

and study of the history of geographical thought, coined the related term

geosophy Geosophy is a concept introduced to geography by J.K. Wright in 1947. The word is a compound of ‘geo’ (Greek for earth) and ‘sophia’ (Greek for wisdom). Wright defined it thus: :Geosophy ... is the study of geographical knowledge from any ...

in 1947, for this kind of broad study of geographical knowledge. Other books oft-cited as key works in the field include

David Harvey David W. Harvey (born 31 October 1935) is a British-born Marxist economic geographer, podcaster and Distinguished Professor of anthropology and geography at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He received his P ...

's 1969 ''Explanation in Geography'' and

Henri Lefebvre Henri Lefebvre ( , ; 16 June 1901 – 29 June 1991) was a French Marxist philosopher and sociologist, best known for pioneering the critique of everyday life, for introducing the concepts of the right to the city and the production of s ...

's 1974 The Production of Space. It was a discussion of issues raised by the latter which in part inspired the founding of a ''Society for Philosophy and Geography'' in the 1990s. The ''Society for Philosophy and Geography'' was founded in 1997 by Andrew Light, a philosopher currently at George Mason University, and Jonathan Smith a geographer at Texas A&M University. Three volumes of an annual peer-reviewed journal, ''Philosophy and Geography,'' were published by Rowman & Littlefield Press which later became a bi-annual journal published by Carfax publishers. This journal merged with another journal started by geographers, ''Ethics, Place, and Environment,'' in 2005 to become ''Ethics, Place, and Environment: A journal of philosophy and geography'' published by Routledge. The journal was edited by Light and Smith up to 2009, and has published work by philosophers, geographers, and others in allied fields, on questions of space, place, and the environment broadly construed. It has come to be recognized as instrumental in expanding the scope of the field of environmental ethics to include work on urban environments. In 2009 Smith retired from the journal and Benjamin Hale from the University of Colorado came on as the new co-editor. Hale and Light relaunched the journal in January 2011 as ''Ethics, Policy and Environment''. While the journal has since focused more on the relationship between environmental ethics and policy, it still welcomes submissions on relevant work from geographers. A book series, also initially published by Rowman & Littlefield, and later by Cambridge Scholars Press, began in 2002 to publish the transactions of the ''Society for Philosophy and Geographys annual meetings, organized by Gary Backhaus and John Murungi of Towson University. In 2005 the society sponsoring these annual meetings became the ''International Association for the Study of Environment, Space, and Place'', and in 2009 the book series gave way to a peer-reviewed journal, ''Environment, Space, Place'', published semiannually and currently edited by C. Patrick Heidkamp, Troy Paddock, and Christine Petto of Southern Connecticut State University.

References

External links

Society for Philosophy and Geography
{{Geography topics

Branches of geography History of geography

Overview

See also

References

External links