Geographic Thought and the Anthropocene: What Geographers Have Said and Have to Say

Abstract

Drawing from early modern and contemporary geographic thought, this article explores how the premise of an Anthropocene (Age of Humans) can be used to reinforce enduring modes of human–environment thinking. Anthropocene dialogues build on insights posed by geographers of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries: unity of nature, humans as nature made conscious, humans as nature’s conscience, and time periods as devices for thinking about human–environment relations. Complementing these ideas, contemporary geographers are making compelling statements about the Anthropocene, affirming that interpretations of the proposed geologic time period differ according to socioenvironmental variables, geographic imaginations, local contexts, and critical perspectives. Three forms of human–environment thinking emerge from examining links between early modern geographers and current geographers addressing the Anthropocene: synthesis thinking, epistemological thinking, and ethical thinking. Connections across ideas concerning the Anthropocene and geographic thought will be strengthened by developing systematic chronologies of the human–environment relationship.

基于早期现代和当代地理学思想, 本文探索了在人类世的前提下, 如何加强人地思想的持久模式。人类世对话基于18世纪和19世纪早期地理学者的以下观点：自然的统一、人类是自然的意识、人类是自然的良知、时间是思考人地关系的手段。做为这些观点的补充, 当代地理学者提出了人类世的有力论述, 确认了人类世与地质年代在解读上的不同, 需要考虑社会环境因素、地理假想、局部环境、批判观点。在人类世的讨论中, 早期现代地理学者与当代地理学者的联系, 有三种人地思想：综合思想、认知思想、道德思想。建立人地关系年表, 可以加强各种关于人类世和地理学思想的观念的关联。

A partir del pensamiento geográfico moderno temprano y el contemporáneo, este artículo explora el modo como la premisa del Antropoceno (la Edad de los Humanos) puede usarse para reforzar modos duraderos del pensar humano–ambiental. Los diálogos del Antropoceno construyen sobre visiones que fueron planteadas por geógrafos de los siglos XVIII y principios del XIX: unidad de la naturaleza, los humanos como naturaleza hecha conciencia, los humanos como la conciencia de la naturaleza, y períodos de tiempo como artilugios para pensar acerca de las relaciones humano–ambientales. Complementando estas ideas, los geógrafos contemporáneos están formulando pronunciamientos convincentes acerca del Antropoceno, afirmando que las interpretaciones del período de tiempo geológico propuesto difieren de acuerdo con variables socioambientales, imaginaciones geográficas, contextos locales y perspectivas críticas. Surgen tres formas del pensar humano–ambiental, desde el examen de los vínculos entre los geógrafos modernos tempranos y los geógrafos actuales que abocan el Antropoceno: pensamiento de síntesis, pensamiento epistemológico y pensar ético. Las conexiones que existen a través de las ideas que conciernen al Antropoceno y al pensamiento geográfico serán reforzadas desarrollando cronologías sistemáticas de la relación humano–ambiental.

Key Words:

• Anthropocene
• consilience
• geographic thought
• human–environment
• synthesis

关键词：:

• 人类世
• 一致性
• 地理学思想
• 人地
• 综合

Palabras clave:

• Antropoceno
• consiliencia
• humano–ambiental
• pensamiento geográfico
• síntesis

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. David Butler and the two anonymous reviewers for their input on improving this article. They would also like to thank Dr. Alexander Hall for advice on Latin translation.

Notes

1 The Anthropocene also contains conceptual ties to the Noösphere, developed by Ukrainian geochemist Vernadsky in 1945 to describe the interface between the biosphere and human cognition (Lewis and Maslin 2015).

2 Although these declarations overlap with discourses outside of geography, they are imbued with distinct geographic approaches to human–environment thinking.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Thomas Barclay Larsen

THOMAS BARCLAY LARSEN is an Instructor of Geography at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include human–environment relations, the Anthropocene, geographic thought, geography education, and the unity of knowledge.

John Harrington

JOHN HARRINGTON, JR. is an Independent Scholar and Professor Emeritus at Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include climatology, human dimensions of global change, GIScience, applied geography, geographic thought, and geography education.