Phenomenology, Science and Geography: Spatiality and the Human Sciences

Product Description


A work of outstanding originality and importance, which will become a cornerstone in the philosophy of geography, this book asks: What is human science? Is a truly human science of geography possible? What notions of spatiality adequately describe human spatial experience and behaviour? It sets out to answer these questions through a discussion of the nature of science in the human sciences, and, specifically, of the role of phenomenology in such inquiry. It criticises established understanding of phenomenology in these sciences, and demonstrates how they are integrally related to each other. The need for a reflective geography to accompany all empirical science is argued strongly. The discussion is organised into four parts: geography and traditional metaphysics; geography and phenomenology; phenomenology and the question of human science; and human science, worldhood and place. The author draws upon the works, of Husserl, Heidegger, Gadamer and Kockelmans in particular.


Book Description


A work of outstanding originality and importance, which will become a cornerstone in the philosophy of geography, this book asks: What is human science? Is a truly human science of geography possible? What notions of spatiality adequately describe human spatial experience and behaviour? The author draws upon the works, of Husserl, Heidegger, Gadamer and Kockelmans in particular.


About the Author


JOHN PICKLES is Earl N. Distinguished Chair of International Studies in the Department of Geography and ROBERT M. JENKINS is Director of the Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies, both at the University of North Carolina.