GEOG 1HB3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Human Geography, Feminist Geography, Regional Geography
11 Dec 2016
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Human geography
Chapter 2:
• Philosophical options
o The philosophical diversity of contemporary human geography
reflects the diversity of our subject matter, namely, human behaviour
in a spatial context
o Some aspects of the human geography are clearly aphilosophical or
empiricist, others are positivist, humanist, Marxist, feminist, or
postmodernist
• Empiricism
o Based on the belief that all knowledge results from experience and
therefore gives priority to factual observations over theoretical
statements
o Contends that we know through experience and that we experience
only those things that actually exist
o Typically sees knowledge acquisition as an ongoing process of
verifying and, as necessary, correcting factual statements
o Allow the facts to speak for themselves
▪ Rejects any philosophy that purports to be an all-embracing
system
o However, empiricism is rejected by most other philosophies
o Fundamental assumption of positivism, a philosophy that built upon
the basic empiricist foundation to include such strategies as theory
construction and hypothesis testing
• Positivism
o Contends that science is only able to deal with empiricism questions,
that scientific observations are repeatable, and that science
progresses through the construction of theories and derivation of
laws
o It is rigorous and clear, a clear and straightforward philosophy for
human geography, and positivism makes the following argument:
▪ Human geography needs to be objective; the personal beliefs of
the geographer should not influence research activity.
• According to humanism and Marxism, objectivity is not
only undesirable but in fact impossible
▪ Human geography can be studied in much the same way as any
other science
• For the positivist, there is really no such thing as a
separate geographic method; all sciences rely on the
same method
• Reflect the belief that human and physical objects to be
treated in a similar fashion
• Humanism and Marxism reject this assumption,
believing that it dehumanizes human geography
▪ Specific method that positivism sees is scientific method
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• Reflecting the empiricist character of the philosophy,
research begins with fact; a theory is derived from those
facts, together with any available laws or appropriate
assumptions; a hypothesis is derived from the theory;
and that hypothesis becomes a law when verified by the
real world of facts
• Scientific method consists of the study of facts, the
construction of theory, the derivation of hypotheses,
and the related recognition of laws
o Closely associated with quantitative methods and theory development
o Is an integral part of what we described earlier as the spatial analysis
approach
o The introduction of it was very questionable since it directly
challenged the regional approach dominant at the time
• Humanism
o More loosely structured set of ideas
o It is a philosophy centred on such aspects of human life as value,
quality, meaning, and significance
o Focuses on human as individual decision-makers, on the way humans
perceive their world, and emphasizes subjectivity in general
o Pragmatism is one example; for human geographers the most
important is phenomenology
▪ Phenomenology is based on the idea that knowledge is
subjective
o The central component of phenomenology is the idea that researchers
need to demonstrate verstehen, or sympathetic understanding, or the
issue being researched
▪ Verstenhen is a research method, associated primarily with
phenomenology, in which the researcher adopts the
perspective of the individual or group under investigation,
German term translated into empathetic understanding
o Phenomenology seeks an empathetic understanding of the lived world
of individual human subjects, whereas positivism seeks objective
casual explanations of human behaviour, without reference to
individual human differences
o Several other humanistic philosophies, such as individuals’ persona
existentialism and idealism, have been advocated by geographers, but
not proved to be highly influential
▪ Existentialism
• Philosophy that sees humans as responsible for making
their own natures; it stresses personal freedom,
decision-making, and commitment in a world without
absolute values outside individuals’ personal
preferences
▪ Idealism
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• Humanistic philosophy according to which human
actions can be understood only by reference to the
thought behind them
o The brief discussion of humanism raises two general issues
▪ The basic distinction between positivism and humanism is one
of objectivism versus subjectivism
▪ Positivism contends that the study of human phenomena can
be objective; humanism says that it cannot- long-established,
unresolved problems in social science
o Three questions are relevant here:
▪ Is there an interaction between the researcher and the
research subject that invalidates the information collected?
▪ Does the researcher have a personal background that
effectively influences her or his choice of problem, methods,
and interpretation of results?
▪ If we view humans objectively, does this mean we see them as
objects? If so, is this approach dehumanizing?
o Answer no to these three questions means that you have positivistic
tendencies; yes means you have humanistic tendencies
o Classic humanistic philosophies place some emphasis on individuals
o For many human geographers, this emphasis on individuals is
inappropriate, and much humanistic work in geography has been
done on a group scale, groups are defined by culture, religion,
language, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality
• Marxism
o The ideas of Karl Marx are foundational to an understanding of the
human-land interface and must be considered
o The body of social and political theory developed by Karl Marx, in
which mode of production is the key to understanding society and
class struggle is the key to historical change
o Nowhere is the idea presented in a clear, unequivocal fashion, and any
interpretation of Marxism is bound to give rise to disagreement
o Marx was a political, social, economic, and philosophical theorist that
wanted to construct a social theory that could explain how society
works
▪ Also a revolutionary who aimed to facilitate a change in the
economic and political structure of society from capitalism to
communism
• Capitalism- a social and economic system for the
production of goods and services based on private
enterprise
o Marxist perspective is often described as historical materialism
▪ Historical materialism- associated with Marxism that explains
social change by reference to historical changes in social and
material relations
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