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Geographic Thoughts...

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GERMAN SCHOOL OF THOUGHT German’s, in the 18th and 19th century, contributed to the development of geography enormously. They gave it a philosophical and scientific base. The contributions of the Germans can be divided into three phases where the German scholars laid foundations for establishing Geography as a modern science. i)

Pre- classical period;

ii)

The Classical Humboldt-Ritterian period and

iii)

Post Classical period.

They offered concepts, models and paradigms which are relevant in present times. 1. Pre-Classical Period: With the scientific revolution, specialization within the subject became prominent. Different traditions evolved which laid the foundations of scientific geography. In the pre-classical period, Peter Apian, Sebastian Muster and Cluverius produced the collection for geography. These scholars revived the classical Ptoleminan tradition as well as the Roman tradition of Strabo. a. Waldseemuller and Mercator produced world maps which are being recognized even in present times. Waldseemuller’s map was published in 1507 and was labelled Carta Marina. In 1538, Mercator made a world map which became the only map to be used for navigation in the low and middle latitudes. b. Bernhardus Varenius (1622-1650): He was one of the first scholars to highlight on the differences in the nature and content of physical and human geography. He believed that the methods of the natural sciences cannot be applied to human groups because they are subjected to probability. Hence generalisation should be restricted to a particular time and space. His contributions gave rise to the dualisms and dichotomies between physical and human geography and between regional (special) and systematic (universal) geography. Varenius was the first to describe the differences in the amount of insolation received at different latitudes on the earth and pointed out that the highest temperatures on the earth are recorded in the hot deserts of the tropical areas and not in the equatorial belt. He was also one of the first to explain the world’s wind systems. Varenius’ most significant contribution was his book, ‘Geographia Generalis’ (1650) which was one of the first attempt to combine three branches of geography

— general (systematic), mathematical and physical and, chorology (science of space). This book consisted of three parts: i. The absolute or terrestrial part dealing with the shape and size of the earth as well as the physical geography of continents, seas and the atmosphere. ii. The relative or the cosmic part describing the relation between the earth and other celestial bodies especially the sun and its effects on global climate. iii. The comparative part focusing on the principles of navigation and the location of different places in relation to each other. In the prologue of his book, Geographia Generalis, Varenius advocated the description of particular places and stated that these should take into consideration the – a) Celestial conditions like climate; b) Terrestrial conditions which include relief, soil, vegetation and biotic life and c) Human conditions that is population, settlement, trade, forms of government. Therefore, geography as a discipline should focus on the surface of the earth in combination with these conditions. It is often regarded that Varenius’ Geographia Generalis could have had a second volume but due to his untimely and premature death in 1650 it could not be completed. c. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): Immanuel Kant was a contemporary of MalleBrun. He provided a philosophical foundation to the subject. Geographical references may be found in his works such as ‘Critique of Pure Reason’ (1781) and ‘Critique of Judgement’ (1798) and his essay, ‘Anthropology from Pragmatic Point of View’ (1798). In his famous ‘Critique of Pure Reason’, Kant denied geography’s’ relation with theology by rejecting the teleological concept. This put an end to the Aristotelian era in geography. Empirical knowledge, according to Kant, could be obtained in two ways— (i)

through pure reason, or

(ii)

Through the senses.

Senses again could be divided into— (i)

inner senses and world as perceived by the inner senses is the seele (soul) or mensch (man)

(ii)

outer senses as the Nature

Kant advocated that knowledge can be classified in two ways:  Logical classification that categorises items on the basis of morphological similarities and may give rise to systematic sciences.  Physical classification that categorises items as belonging to same time or space. Immanuel Kant is regarded as the ‘father of exceptionalism’ as he was opposed to generalisations and believed that history and geography were methodologically different from the other sciences. Germany, in the 19th century witnessed the emergence of what may be described as ‘neo-Kantianism.’ Followers of this tradition sought to draw a line of difference between the historical and cultural sciences on one hand, and the natural sciences on the other Apart from physical geography, Immanuel Kant may also be credited for pioneering several other branches of geography as well: 

Mathematical geography dealing with the shape, size, form and movements of the earth and, its position in the solar system.



Moral geography that describes the customs and traditions of humans in different places.



Political geography which essentially studies the interrelationship between political units and their physical set up.



Commercial geography which probes into the fact that why one country has abundance of some commodities but may be deficient in others; a situation believed to give rise to international trade.



Theological geography which tries to analyse the changes theological principles experiences in different spatial units.

Kant placed geography in a central position amongst the sciences. In human geography of modern times, the development of the ‘possibilistic approach’ of the French school and ‘humanistic geography’ may be attributed to the Kantianism

2. The Classical Humboldt-Ritterian Period: Humboldt and Ritter established most of the theoretical concepts of geography in the late nineteenth century and have been called as the “Founding Fathers of Modern Geography”. The geography by them has been defined as ‘Classical Geography’ by Hartshorne (1976). a. Alexander Von Humboldt (1769-1859): Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a Prussian polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. Humboldt was one of the first people to propose that the lands bordering the Atlantic Ocean were once joined (South America and Africa in particular). The noun of Permafrost was fabricated to explain the frozen characteristics of Siberian soil, after the undertaking that the term 'climatology' appeared in geographical literature. Humboldt revived the use of the word cosmos from the ancient Greek and used it in his multivolume treatise, Kosmos, which is a five volume work, in which he sought to unify diverse branches of scientific knowledge and culture which was published in the year 1845. The second volume was published in the year 1862 after his death. In the first volume a general picture of the whole universe is presented. The second volume has a portrayal of nature through the ages since the time of ancient Egyptians. In the third volume Humboldt discusses the laws of celestial space. Man has been discussed in the fourth volume; he believed that all the races of man had a common origin and that no race was inferior or superior to other. With respect to geography, Humboldt coined the word 'cosmography' and divided it into urography and geography. In his opinion, urography is descriptive astronomy, which is related to celestial bodies. Geography on the other hand was limited to geographical geography, which is related to the terrestrial part. Geography, according to him, is the description of the earth which is related to the interconnection of events in one area together. b. Carl Ritter (1779-1859): Carl Ritter influenced more on the development and growth of geography than Humboldt. His initial work in geography includes two volumes on Europe written between 1804 and 1807. For Ritter, geography was an empirical and descriptive science. He declared Geography as the Earth Science. The first feature was topographical, that is, it is related to the natural division of the Earth's surface. The second included water distribution, sea and atmosphere

-the bases of human life. The third conditions were described as the geographical aspect of natural history; it covered the distribution of minerals, plants and animals. It is in Erdkunde (published in 1817) that he provides the above explanation about geography; making his geography anthropocentric. At the time of his death, Ritter had produced an astonishing amount of geographical literature contained in his "Erdkunde" alone. It amounts to 21 volumes comprising 19 parts which can be roughly divided into 6 sections: 1. Africa (I) 1822 2. East Asia (II-VI) 1818-1836 3. West Asia (VII-XI) 1837-1844 4. Arabia (XII-XIII) 1846-1847 5. Sinai Peninsula (XIV-XVII) 1847-1848 6. Asia Minor (XVIII-XIX) 1850-1852 3. The Post Classical Period: The post-classical period in Germany felt the need of a professionally accepted paradigm to guide the study of geography. This made ‘professionalism’ an academic necessity. Geography got established as a permanent and independent discipline. The emergence of this new geography is credited to the works of Peschel, Richthofen, Ratzel, and Hettner. Their contribution led to Germany becoming the leading nation for the development of academic geography. a. Oscar Peschel (1826-1875): He was the first professor of geography in Germany. His ideas where conflicting to the Humboldt-Ritterian tradition. To him geography was an empirical systematic and science. . His book on history of geography was published in 1865 by the name ‘Geschichte der erdkunde’. He even recognised dualism in geography and excluded man from its study. But his untimely death at the age of forty-nine left his work incomplete and was considered a loss for the emerging ‘new geography’ in Germany. b. Ratzel (1844-1904): Friedrich Ratzel was a German geographer and ethnographer, notable for first using the term Lebensraum ("living space"). A scholar with versatile academic interests, he was a hardcore German; because of his patriotism during the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, he had joined the Prussian army. He was influenced by thinkers like Darwin and Ernst Heinrich Haeckel. Ratzel's writings coincided with the growth of German industrialism after the Franco-Prussian war and the subsequent search for markets that brought it into

competition with Britain. His interest in race and nations was inquisitive and after doing adequate regional work, he coined the term 'anthropogeography' - described it as the principal area of geographic study. The first volume of his monumental work Anthropogeographie was published in 1882. He initiated the idea that cultural and natural phenomenon can be subjected to systematic study. In the second volume (1891) carried the subtitle "The Geographical Distribution of Mankind" where he discusses the significance of the historical development and cultural background of population. Ratzel's first volume became the dominant input in human geographical methodology He is often regarded as the Father of Political Geography. In 1896 Ratzel wrote 'Political Geography' in which he compared 'State' to an organism attached to the land, which like other organisms in nature passes through a developmental cycle. It was his philosophy of 'living place', which created a controversy over the superior and the low levels, which advocates saying that the best people (nations) have to stay 'at the expense of neighbouring countries. It was Ratzel's philosophy which ruled German policy in 1930 and as a result of which World War II took place. To sum up, Ratzel's concept of human geography consisted of two different approaches to the study of man and his activities: One involved the measurement the interrelationships of the environment and man and focused on the reole of physical environment shaping human activity; and the other focused on the measurement of interrelationships between a really coincident human geographic phenomena in particular places over the surface of the earth. c. Alfred Hettner (1859 – 1941): He is known for his concept of chorology, the

study of places and regions. According to him, geography is a chorological science or it is a study of regions. He rejects the view that geography is either general or regional. He wrote his book 'Europe' which was published in 1907. The second volume was published in 1924; these two books later became the “Foundations of Regional Geography”. His opinion, the specific subject of geography was the knowledge of the areas of the Earth because they are different from each other; humans are an integral part of the nature of an area. Hettner was a significant contributor to the doctrine of possibilism. He rejected the idea that geography could be either idiographic or nomothetic but not both. His ideas of

organization in geographical studies influenced the German geography for decades....