Determinism And Possibilism In Geography Pdf Books
Possibilism in is the theory that the environment sets certain constraints or limitations, but culture is otherwise determined by social conditions. In used this concept in order to develop alternative approaches to the dominant at that time in ecological studies. Theory by in 64 BC that humans can make things happen by their own intelligence over time. Strabo cautioned against the assumption that nature and actions of humans were determined by the physical environment they inhabited. He observed that humans were the active elements in a human-environmental partnership. The controversy between geographical possibilism and determinism might be considered as one of (at least) three dominant controversies of contemporary geography.
The other two controversies are 1) the 'debate between neopositivists and neokantians about the 'exceptionalism' or the specificity of geography as a science and 2) the contention between and about what is—or should be—geography'. Possibilism in geography is, thus, considered as a distinct approach to geographical knowledge, directly opposed to geographical determinism.
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Dear Learner, we shall start our lecture by helping you to understand the meaning of Geography and Human Geography. We hope that this will help you to appreciate the philosophical underpinnings of the discipline and how different it is from Physical Geography and other social sciences. 1.3.1 Geography The discipline of Geography has undergone many changes, which have affected its definition and content. In the initial stages of the development of the discipline, it was concerned with exploration in order to increase knowledge of the earth. This was seen for example, in the voyages of explorers like Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus in 1492. Generally, Geography has been referred to as the study of the earth, i.e. The natural aspects such as mountains, valleys, vegetation and the human aspects like agriculture, settlement, industry among others.
Geography is the study of the earth’s landscapes, peoples, places and environments. The discipline of Geography is unique in bridging the social sciences (Human Geography) with the natural sciences (Physical Geography). Geography puts this understanding of social and physical processes within the context of places and regions - recognizing the great differences in cultures, political systems, economies, landscapes and environments across the world, and the links between them (Ayiemba,2004). Geography consists of two main sub-disciplines; Human Geography and Physical (natural) Geography. Human Geography focuses largely on the built environment and how space is created, viewed and managed by humans as well as the influence humans have on the space they occupy.
Physical Geography examines the natural environment and how climate, vegetation and life, soil, water and landforms are produced and interact. Both human and physical geographers deal with the spatial perspective of the earth. That is, how phenomena, be it natural or man made, are laid out, arranged and organised on the earth surface (Blij and Murphy, 1999). This is why the use of maps is very important in Geography.
In fact, geographers have been traditionally viewed in the same way as cartographers and people who study place names and numbers. Geography also emphasises location, pattern and distribution of both natural and human phenomena.
There has been little debate concerning the subject matter of Geography as a discipline. Both physical and human geographers agree that Geography explains the variation of phenomena on the earth’s surface. However, divergent views exist concerning the methodology that should be adopted in the discipline. For example, Richard Hartshorne visualizes Geography as an idiographic science whose main emphasis is the description of individual phenomena because each feature on the earth surface is unique (Hagget, 1983). Maurice Yeates, on the other hand, considers Geography as a nomothetic (i.e. Law-giving) science that requires the development and testing of theories and models through hypothetic – deductive methods in order to develop geographical laws (Macoloo et al., 2004). According to Pattison in his work “The Four Traditions of Geography” there are four areas in which geographic research, teaching and activity are concentrated and which are referred to as traditions within the discipline (Pattison, 1964).
They include the following;. An earth science tradition represented by many decades of work in Physical (natural) Geography.
A culture- environment tradition that emphasizes the relationships between human societies and their natural environment. A spatial tradition that highlights the location of both human and physical phenomena in space. An area-analysis tradition due to importance of regional studies 1.3.2 Human Geography Human Geography is a branch of Geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with various environments. It encompasses human, political, cultural and social and economic aspects. While the major focus of Human Geography is not the physical landscape of the earth, it is hardly possible to discuss Human Geography without referring to the physical landscape on which human activities are based. In Human Geography, we focus on vertical and horizontal relationships on the earth surface. Vertical relationships links different elements in the same location e.g.
People and the environment while horizontal relationships links elements in separate locations for instance inter place relationships through flow of goods, people, information and services (Ayiemba, 2004). Human Geography as a social science studies particular aspects of the society that relates to human beings and space. Perpillou (1966) defined Human Geography as the study of the ecology of man, that is, how man relates to his environment. Human Geography may also be regarded as the science of societies; it studies evolution of societies, from simple to complex activities on the surface of the earth. In a nutshell, Human Geographers examine those facts of Geography that relate directly to human beings and their activities observing their effects upon them and the results of human activities on their surroundings. In a nutshell therefore, we can define Geography as the study of the earth, both the physical (natural) aspects as well as the human (man-made) aspects. On the other hand, Human Geography is a branch of Geography that studies how humans relate with their natural environment.
Define Possibilism In Geography
Human Geographers study the effect of human activities on the natural environment as well as how the natural environments affect humans. The earliest evidence of such explorations comes from the archaeological discovery of a Babylonian clay tablet map that dates back to 2300 BC (Pidwirny, 2006).
The early Greeks were the first civilization to practice a form of Geography that was more than mere map making. Greek philosophers and scientist were also interested in learning about the spatial nature of human and physical features found on the Earth.
One of the first Greek geographers was Herodotus (484 - 425 BC) who wrote a number of volumes that described the human and physical Geography of the various regions of the Persian Empire (Pidwirny, 2006). There are many changes that took place that defined the subject that we call Geography today.
However, we cannot study every detail. According to Chisholm (1975), the changes that have shaped the discipline of Human Geography can be summarised in three phases namely; (1) The age of discovery (1400-1800), (2) The period between 1800 -1950 and (3) The period after 1950.Let us now explain each phase; 1.4.1 The age of discovery (1400-1800) The period between 1400 and 1800 was when the subject matter and the methodology of Geography were not fully developed. The discipline can be described as having been in an embryonic stage. This period was characterized by exploration, discovery and conquest as exemplified in the voyages of Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus in 1492. Numerous journeys of geographical exploration were commissioned by a variety of nation states in Europe. Most of these voyages were financed because of the potential commercial returns from resource exploitation. The voyages also provided an opportunity for scientific investigation and discovery.
The making of maps (cartography) was. Important in the discipline of Geography due to the emphasis on location of phenomena on the earth surface, e.g. Location of trade routes, relief features and settlements. In the 17 th century Berhardus Varenius published an important geographic reference titled Geographia generalis ( General Geography: 1650). Varenius used direct observations and primary measurements to present some new ideas concerning geographic knowledge.
This work continued to be a standard geographic reference for about 100 years. According to Ayiemba, (2004), the methodology of Geography at this time was heavily influenced by the compilation, revision and evolution of maps and their projections. During the 18 th century, the German philosopher, Emmanuel Kant (1724-1804) proposed that human knowledge could be organized in three different ways. One way of organizing knowledge was to classify its facts according to the type of objects studied. Accordingly, zoology studies animals, botany examines plants and geology involves the investigation of rocks.
The second way one can study things is according to a temporal dimension. This field of knowledge is of course called history. The last method of organizing knowledge involves understanding facts relative to spatial relationships. This field of knowledge is commonly known as Geography. Kant also divided Geography into a number of sub-disciplines. He recognized the following six branches: Physical, mathematical, moral, political, commercial and theological Geography (Pidwirny, 2006).
You should note that as Geography has evolved the branches have continued to change in context while new fields have emerged that study emerging human problems. 1.4.2 The period between 1800 -1950 The period between 1800 and 1950 was characterised by the work of various philosophers who helped to expand the scope of Geography. The discipline of Geography became more distinct in the subject matter. Geographic knowledge saw strong growth in Europe and the United States in the 1800s. This period also saw the emergence of a number of societies interested in geographic issues.
In Germany, Alexander Von Humboldt, Carl Ritter and Fredrich Ratzel made substantial contributions to Human and Physical Geography. Humboldt's publication Kosmos in 1844, examines the geology and physical Geography of the Earth. This work is considered by many academics to be a milestone contribution to geographic scholarship. Late in the 19 th century, Ratzel theorized that the distribution and culture of the Earth's various human populations was strongly influenced by the natural environment. This period was characterised by classical philosophers who attempted to gain a deeper understanding of the earth as a habitat for humans. Geography as a discipline became more descriptive in approach and adopted a regional approach in the study of spatial phenomena (Ayiemba, 2004). Emphasis was placed on uniqueness of regions in terms of resources availability and how they could be harnessed to meet human needs in terms of goods and services.
There are two schools of thought that emerged during this period as an attempt to explain the relationship between human beings and their environment. These were environmental determinism and possibilism. Proponents of environmental determinism school of thought such as Mackinder, Semple and Huntington believed that human actions and activities were moulded by the physical (natural) conditions (Ayiemba, 2004). In developing countries, human beings are susceptible to natural disasters such as drought, famine, floods and earthquakes. Human beings under such natural conditions usually surrender to nature. A good example of environmental determinism is the influence of the natural environment on human activities such as nomadic pastoralism.
Nomadic Pastoralism is so much dependent on the natural environment. Pastoralists do. The proponents of possibilism school of thought, such as De la Blanche (cited in Smith, 1977) saw the environment as a limiting factor rather than as a deterministic force. Sauer, one of the proponents of possibilism, for instance argued that culture was important in determining human activities on the earth (cited in Smith 1977). In 1847 George Perkins Marsh gave a powerful discourse on the role of human activities on the natural environment. Such activities included deforestation and land conversion to other land use other than agriculture. This became the foundation for his book; ‘Man and Nature’ or ‘ The Earth as Modified by Human Action’, which was first published in 1864 (Pidwirny, 2006).
According to the possibilism school of thought, human beings had several alternatives in their environment and that their actions were influenced by the decisions they made in the environment (Tidswell, 1976). Human beings are major decision makers hence they have the ability to modify the natural environment through the use of technologies. According to this school, human beings and activities can survive below and above the limits created by the natural environment e.g.
Climatic conditions. For instance, humans and their activities can survive in hot or extremely cold conditions due to their ability to modify the environment to suit them. You should note that, this may not be possible without technological innovations that may be designed to overcome environmental limitations. In developed countries, the use of technologies and capital has helped people to modify the environments to suit their needs. In other words, it is possible to engage in any economic activity even in the harshest environments and that there are many other forces. Such as political, cultural and technological factors that may affect human decision making and spatial human behaviour.
A good example is the fact that in many arid countries such as Israel, humans have overcome the constraints set by the natural environment such as low rainfall, high temperatures and poor soils. They have done this by using technology to grow various crops under irrigation. In other words, the natural environment is not a deterministic force, but instead humans are able to make decisions to modify the environment.
Such modification may be influenced by several factors such as socio-cultural, economic, technological and political. There were contributions by other scholars that should be mentioned here.
For instance, German scholars, Richthofen (1872) and Otto Maull and Hettner gave prominence to Human Geography by expanding its scope through their publications emphasising human–environment interaction. In particular, Otto Maull published a manual on Human Geography titled Anthropogeography whose emphasis was on regional approach to the study of human races and how humans adapted to different ecological conditions (Perpillou, 1966; Ayiemba, 2004). On the other hand, Hettner emphasised Population Geography as an important sub branch of Human Geography. In fact, the first population map of Britain was published in 1860. Other publications that helped to expand the understanding of the discipline included Cosmos published by Alexander Von Humboldt in 1845, Regional Geography of the world published by Carl Ritter in a publication called Erdkunde in 1817 (Ayiemba, 2004). French geographers such as Vidal de la Blanche (1903), Jean Bruhnes, Aurousseau and the French school of Geography, contributed to the origin of Economic Geography as a branch of Human Geography by incorporating population data, settlement types, patterns and human occupations in the scope of the discipline. American geographers such as Jefferson and Semple expanded the scope by including population problems that other disciplines such as economics, sociology and history were concerned about (Ayiemba, 2004).
1.4.3 The period after 1950 Until 1950s, Human Geography was more of an art subject where facts were established by casual observation in the field rather than by careful measurement and hypothesis testing (Smith, 1977). The only theoretical perspectives before 1950s were what has come to be known as environmental determinism and possibilism.
In the 1950s there was new development in the discipline where F. Schaefer initiated a move to seek ‘laws’ which would explain geographical phenomena, particularly within the field of Human Geography. Using laws, it is possible to predict what will happen. If we can predict successfully, we can plan and control possible changes in patterns and distribution of spatial human behaviour. The emphasis began to shift to location analysis and quantification of human spatial phenomena. One of the important developments in this period was the use of quantitative techniques in the study of spatial human behaviour.
Quantitative techniques refer to various statistical tools that are used to synthesize data about human activities. Quantification came about as a result of the expanding scope of the discipline as well the need to understand human activities that were becoming more diversified and complex as societies developed.
Environmental Determinism In Geography
Pioneers in quantification include McCarty et al (1956), Cole and King (1968), Yeates (1968) and King (1969). Quantification begun in Physical Geography and spread to Human Geography (Ayiemba, 2004). This greater emphasis on methodology and statistical techniques is what has come to be known as the quantitative revolution in Geography.
It was referred to as a revolution because it marked a new beginning in the way the subject matter of Geography was to be studied. The quantitative revolution involves the use of descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, basic mathematical equations and the use of deterministic models. Burton (1963) described the quantitative revolution as 'a radical transformation of the spirit and purpose' of Geography. By this he meant a new-found enthusiasm for the use of numerical techniques of some kind, directed towards elucidating the details of earth surface patterns - or what became known as ‘spatial science’. Many geographers believed that numbers are more precise, and therefore perceived as more scientific compared to words. In addition, the use of models and theories became very important in explaining spatial human behaviour.
Ap Human Geography Possibilism
Researchers began investigating process rather than mere description of the event of interest. Today, the quantitative approach has become even more prevalent due to advances in computer and software technologies. Closely associated with the quantitative revolution was the discovery of models and theories. Model building is related to the development of spatial theory (Smith, 1977). This was exemplified in the spatial economic theory as seen in the works of Losch (1954), Greenhurt (1956), Isard (1956) and the classic work of Christaller (1933) on central places.
After 1960, Human Geography began to diversify as inspired by the quantitative revolution, spatial economics, and model building. These new developments are seen in the publications by Bunge (1962), Adams, Abler and Gould (1971), Morrill (1970) and Hagget (1972) (Ayiemba, 2004). Emphasis was more on methods of analysis rather than on the subject matter of the discipline. Such topics as diffusion of innovation, social ecology of cities and regional studies became very popular due to the availability of computer programmes. Dear learner, we have seen that the quantitative revolution was a milestone in the evolution of Geography.
A second revolution referred to as the radical revolution occurred where emphasis shifted on contemporary issues related to human problems such as the environment, poverty, hunger, racial discrimination and social inequality (Smith, 1977). This new approach that occurred at the end of 1960s is referred to as the ‘ welfare approach’. The new development contributed to new sub disciplines of Human Geography such as medical Geography and Social Geography. Other areas of interest for human geographers especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America were economic development and how it relates to human welfare. ASince the 1970s the literature on welfare issues such as poverty led to the launch of a new radical journal of Antipode (Peet, 1970; 1972) and the first book in “problems” series in Geography (Morril and Wohlenberg, 1971).