Determinism and Possibilism: A Critical Epistemological Analysis

By Jose Alexandre de Quadros

DETERMINISM AND POSSIBILISM: A CRITICAL EPISTEMOLOGICAL ANALYSIS This book aims to present some of the guiding ideas, according to the predominant geographical thought, of the German deterministic geographical school originated mainly from the writings of Friedrich Ratzel, and the French possibilist geographical school originated mainly from the writings of Paul Vidal de La Blache. From this point on, it will carry out a critical epistemological analysis of these thoughts and how the majority of geographical thought treats them, showing possible inconsistencies and contradictions of this common thought, and that the original ideas were distorted, mainly from the German school, which was attacked and underestimated by a large part of the geographical school, while the French school was defended and praised by the same. It will also address the dichotomy of how these geographical schools were treated in the main Brazilian and Paran? education documents, the PCN and the DCE, respectively.

GERMAN DETERMINISM - FRIEDRICH RATZELAccording to this school of geographical thought, humans were intrinsically linked to nature and their environment, being limited and consequently determined by it. Thus, any relevant anthropic modification in the environment could bring serious problems to humans. One of the consequences of this thought, among others, was the birth of Environmentalism, since humans needed to preserve the environment since they were linked to it, and its destruction would also be ours. From this theory also came the concept of "Vital Space," which indicated that the size of a people's territory was directly linked to their ability to progress and develop, a concept that may have helped to formulate colonialist and imperialist ideas of European nations

.FRENCH POSSIBILISM - PAUL VIDAL DE LA BLACHEFollowing a contrasting position, this school of geographical thought formulated the idea that humans had ample possibilities over the environment, which would only depend on their knowledge and technology to be able to subject nature to their wills and intentions, since there would be no direct cause and effect relationship between human relations and nature. It served as the basis for the unbridled exploitation of natural resources and the settlement and urbanization of places previously considered inhospitable. It may also have been used for the implementation of colonialism and imperialism by European countries that wanted to "give evolution possibilities" to the "backward" countries through their knowledge and technology.

RESULTAlthough they may seem radically different, through studies and analysis of the literature on the subject, we have concluded that these theories are far from being as opposed as they seem, since both schools accept some ideas from the other to a greater or lesser extent. We have found that the rivalry arose not from their creators, but mainly from later writings by students of these Schools of Geographic Thought. We also addressed how these theories are treated in the main geography education documents in Brazil and Paran? (PCN and DCE), pointing to a national trend towards possibilist ideas, especially in the national PCN, and showing that this was mainly due to the process of structuring Scientific Geography in Brazil, which was done by French Geographers, including the famous Geographer Pierre Monbeig, who taught at USP in the 1930s. As in all fields of study where there are clashes of ideas, such as the traditional "war" between Left and Right in the political sphere, we believe that the radicalism of either side tends to give rise to retrograde positions...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B08C9619FV
• ISBN13: 9798611496374
• Release Date: July 2020
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 232 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"