An essay on the nature of geography

Abstract

(1) In order to clarify the nature of geography, it is necessary (a) to interpret it epistemologically, or methodologically, (b) to expound it from the standpoint of historical development, and (c) to examine it on the basis of real studies. The present essay deals with the nature of geography mainly from the first point of View above mentioned. (2) Science can be classified in to abstract and concrete sciences. Concrete science is further divided into sciences of time and space. Geography is a science of space which belongs to the category of conrete science. The Character of geography lies in the investigation and studying of the structure of a region in the concrete. (3) A region is a unity that is realized on the surface of the earth with which different phenomena are associated. It is a collective object having its own structure and exists in a different dimension from each seprate phenomenon. It forms an object of study peculiar to geography. (4) “To investigate the structure of region means to understand a region not as a simply united whole but as a compound whole made up of elements, and to grasp mechanism of such a make-up. What is characterisitc of geography in the most recent times is that the structure of a region is made clear functionally and the mutual relations of elements composing the whole are grasped in a numerical manner. In the understanding of the structure of a region, the most important subject of study is a correlation between nature and cultural phenomena. The ascertaining of how the component elements are distributed will prove essential in such a study. (5) By studying the structure of a region in the concrete is meant not only that a region is grasped mechanistically on basis of real facts but that a structure which is not be thoroughly understood in such a manner is clarified concretely. In this study the historical consideration plays an important role. © 1952, The Human Geographical Society of Japan. All rights reserved.