What happened to the idea of the unity of geography?
Keywords:
Wacław Nałkowski, geography, the idea of the unity of geography, the identity of the geography, Kant's epistemologyAbstract
Trying to analyze and assess particular scientific, educational and philosophical concepts of Wacław Nałkowski, one should not lose sight of what is his greatest achievement, what was his main concern and care throughout all his scientific career. It is the idea of geography as an autonomous and coherent science, covering the whole of reality that is perceived and experienced in the course of the everyday life. Among the contemporary Polish geographical circles there are very limited number of scholars who are inclined to understand and accept this fairly simple idea. It was demonstrated thanks to the current debate conducted in the pages of Polish scientific journals, and especially the polemics between Jerzy Bański and Zbigniew Rykiel. Understanding of some key notions by particular disputants showed to be so different, that it prevents effective agreement. In spite of that, they both seem to suggest that the idea of the unity of geography is harmful and should be abandoned. Like the most of geographers, they see no need for the unity of geography, or set their hope for its reintegration on unifying of human and physical geographies. The article presents the arguments in the light of which such position must be recognized incorrect mainly due to the fact, that the disputants utilize the elements of colloquial speech instead of the exact philosophical meaning of such terms like the unity and identity (with reference to geography of course). Therefore, the conclusion tells that the idea of disintegration geography synonymous with its liquidation is definitely premature in the face of the great potential contained in the classical geographical concepts, represented also by Wacław Nalkowski.
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