The “Lelevel Society”
Research Group is a scientific team dealing with the philosophy of geography
and the history of geographical thought. Its main purpose is to create
methodologies and research projects consistent with the synthetic aims and
character of classical geography. The necessity for studies aimed at the
restructuring of classical geography is a consequence of the contemporary
crisis of its identity and the growing difficulties in defining geography and
its subject-matter. On the other hand, in contemporary literature more and more
statements appear, which suggests that synthetic efforts in geography are
unjust and unreasonable.
The Group
was initiated during the meeting of several geographers, anthropologists,
biologists, geologists and philosophers, who represented seven Polish academic
centres: Kielce, Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Warszawa, Łódź and Rzeszów. They met
on April 20th,
2009 in the Jodłowy Dwór Mansion situated on the Hill of Święty Krzyż (The Holy Cross Monastery).
The organizing responsibilities were
assumed by Mateusz Wierciński, anthropologist and geographer from Kielce. Mr
Wierciński introduced the following questions which are the most fundamental
from the point of view of contemporary geography:
1. What is the essence of geography as a
special field of study? Is it possible to formulate a reasonable definition of geography?
2. Is
it possible for geography to strive for the synthesis of knowledge? What are the implications of too broad and simultaneously too vague
subject-matter of geography?
3. What is
the geographical vision of man? Is the definition of human nature important (if
so) for the future synthetic and analytical studies in geography?
4. How
should we understand the key geographical notions: Earth, its surface,
landscape, region, culture, civilization, man, nature, etc.?
5. What is
the social relevance of geography for the 21st century?
6. Are the
contents and methods of geographical curricula adequate for the requirements
and expectations of a synthetic branch of science?
7. If regional geography can achieve synthetic
levels what are the criteria of regional division? And what is the method of
scientific description of regions?
The session lasted seven hours and
was too short for the participants to give answers to the above questions. The
discussion allowed them however to formulate the following conclusions:
1.
The ultimate purpose of geography is the synthesis of knowledge; and the discipline which is particularly designed for synthetic research
is regional geography.
2. To reverse worrying tendencies and to stop
the process of making geography a socially irrelevant field, there should be
formulated an adequate definition of geography, its place in the system of
knowledge, as well as its subject-matter.
3. The
traditional, humanistic character of geographical research should be
revitalized. Man should become again the very centre of geographical interests,
and his activity leading to landscape changes should be understood as the main
element to be explained.
4. Since
geography was established as the counterweight for the processes of
specialization and fragmentation of knowledge (and those processes then became
much stronger and faster), the synthetic purposes designed in the classical
period became more and more important and up-to-date. There is a necessity to
restate and express them in a form adequate from the point of view of modern
methodology.
5. There is a need to revise the philosophical
fundamentals and methodology (in an operational sense) of geographical research
in the area of regional geography.
Participants of the
Holy Cross Session appreciated the need for mutual cooperation in order to
tackle the problems raised. They showed a willingness to freely exchange ideas
as a small team of researchers specifically interested in the philosophy and
history of geographical thought. The form of the meeting was accepted as
effective and successful since all the participants were able to present and
substantiate their concepts and to confront them in the light of other views. Good
moderation allowed to formulate the conclusions, which are the basis for the
next meetings of the Group.
The Second Session of the „Lelevel Society”
Research Group was arranged on December 1st 2009, at the Geographical Institute of
the University of
Education in Kraków.
Several scientists from Łódź, Kielce, Warszawa, Wrocław, Prešov and Kraków had attained the
session. They were mostly geographers but among them there were also
representatives of anthropology, biology, mathematics, and philosophy.
According to the earlier announcements, the aim
of the meeting was to overwork the method of the world regions description. In
the first part of the session appeared controversies in understanding of the
very concept of region and regional geography. However, the participants
confirmed their attitude accepted during the Holy Cross session in April 2009.
According to this concept, regional geography is a synthetically oriented
field, and region is a spatially differentiated but coherent territory. The
coherence and unity of a region is the result of cultural homogeneity and the
unity of regional community.
The disputants showed to be inclined to accept
the anthropological concept of culture formulated by Andrzej Wierciński.
According to this theory (presented by Mateusz Wierciński, Kielce), culture is the complex, socially
organized system of human adaptation in various millieux both in their natural
and social aspects. This formulation of culture was taken as the most useful
from the point of view of the synthetic aims of geography, since the strictly
cultural aspects are joined with the so called nature (in its modern, narrow
meaning). In this theory the nature is subjugated and transcended by the
culture. So, the idea of bio-cultural evolution appeared to be necessary. The debate concerning the question of regions
in geography was compared to the considerations on the essence of life in
biology, and to cosmological concepts in modern physics. Like the concept of
life for biology and the time-space theory for physics, the regional idea is
central for geography and constitutes its raison d'ětre. The region is
a dynamic and hierarchic category, and the basis for the identification of the
world regions are cultures, often referred to as civilizations.
The further
discussion concerned the method of the identification of the so called dominant
cultural traits (Elżbieta Szkurłat, Łódź), that is to say, the cultural
characteristics which have their expressions in landscapes and which are
symptoms of the principles which make the differentiation of the Earth surface
understandable. The utilization of the „common sense” and the „cultural good” philosophical ideas was also
considered (Michał Kosztołowicz, Kielce).
Due to the variety
of numerous concepts which had appeared in the course of the meeting, no
ultimate conclusions were formulated. However, it was ascertained that such
formulation will be possible but not before analyzing and understanding presented anthropological
and philosophical propositions. The disputants also showed the need of making
comprehensible the methodological concept presented by René Matlovič (Prešov, Slovakia).
So, the dominant regional traits theme will be continued during the next
meetings of the Group.
Thanks to the kind acceptation and support from the
side of Professor Ibrahim Atalay (Dokuz
Eylul University
at Izmir), the Third Session of the „Lelevel
Society” Research Group will be on June 3-4, 2010, at Kemer, southern Turkey. This
will be the first mostly international session of the „Lelevel Society” and it
will consist of both panel discussion and standard paper session. The main
theme of the paper session is „Life, Civilization, and Region: Synthetic
Concepts in Geography”. Since the Third „Lelevel Society” Session is organized
in the frame of the International GEOMED 2010 Conference, all interested people are asked to visit the web site of
this Conference and follow the Organizers' instructions (http://web.deu.edu.tr/geomed2010).
We invite researchers interested in activity presented above which would like to cooperate or have any questions to contact with W. J. Wilczyński, Ph.D. E-mail: witoldwilczynski@yahoo.com
Joachim Lelevel
The “Lelevel Society”
Research Group is a scientific team dealing with the philosophy of geography
and the history of geographical thought. Its main purpose is to create
methodologies and research projects consistent with the synthetic aims and
character of classical geography. The necessity for studies aimed at the
restructuring of classical geography is a consequence of the contemporary
crisis of its identity and the growing difficulties in defining geography and
its subject-matter. On the other hand, in contemporary literature more and more
statements appear, which suggests that synthetic efforts in geography are
unjust and unreasonable.
