The irrational method in geographical science: Efficacy and application

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between rational and irrational modes of cognition within geographical science. In philosophy, the former is traditionally linked to logical reasoning and argumentation, while the latter pertains to that which lies beyond pure reason and is accessible through intuition, emotion, faith, or instinct. As a case study, the author cites Soviet social geography, a field whose subject matter was severely constrained by extra-scientific doctrines, becoming entrenched in a ‘mire’ of rigid cliches and mythologies. These included postulates concerning the spontaneity and anarchism of the capitalist economy, its purportedly irrational territorial organization, and the far-fetched theories of ‘socialist’ versus ‘capitalist’ populations. The article also analyzes the contemporary surge of so-called humanistic geography in the West, driven primarily by the active incorporation of human consciousness and individual cognitive capacities. It is argued that the growing interest in intuitive and interpretive methods for understanding geographical phenomena stems from impulses that originate largely outside the discipline itself. The paper concludes that many humanistic geographers’ interpretations of the ‘phenomenology of place’ belong more properly to the theoretical arsenals of philosophy and psychology than to geography. The irrational method in geography is further associated with paternalism within scientific practice. Nonetheless, the paper advocates for a judicious ‘balance’ between rational and irrational cognition in geographical inquiry.