What is a „geographical sense”?

Abstract

„Geographical sense” is one of the original ideas of Wacław Nałkowski. He defined it as oneof the characteristics of human perception and thinking, which manifests itself in such a way, that the whole variety of human experience is transformed in the act of perception to shape the overall, general and comprehensive situations or figures. It is a process based on a spontaneous, unconscious selection of incoming sensory data and its evaluation, interpretation and synthesizing, to create the picture of a whole (germ. Gestalt). This process was examined and described by psychologists in the twentieth century. According to Nałkowski, if this holistic perception and valuation refers to geographic features such as places, regions or landscapes, it can be called „geographical sense”. This specific human capacity Nałkowski defined only in one of his latest publications, but its influence on his work seems to be evident already in first editions of his textbooks. The article presents the relationship between the concept of „geographical sense” and the idea of the unity of geography, which seems to be the most important in all Nałkowski’s geographical works. Moreover, the author showed some similar concepts which appeared in the history of geographical thought. „Geographical sense” is compared with the „Excellency of Geography” formulated by Bernhard Varenius, the „spiritual synthesis” by Wincenty Pol, the „geographical thinking” concept of Mikołaj Barański, and particularly, with David Lowenthal’s „geographical epistemology”. The particular attention was paid to the interpretation of „geographical sense” in terms of psychology and cognitive science (J. Piaget and J. Bruner), and also in terms of Kantian epistemology. The article is also a reference to contemporary philosophical concept referred to as the „Basic Furniture of Mind Hypothesis”.