AN IDEALIST ALTERNATIVE IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

ABSTRACT An analytical objective human geography is possible without theory. The idealist philosophy can be used to draw a sharp distinction between the explanation of rational human actions and other phenomena. A rational human action is explained by reconstructing the thought behind it. The human geographer has no need of his own theories, because he is concerned with the theories expressed in the actions of those being investigated. Procedures for testing the worth of an idealist interpretation of a set of actions are just as appropriate, objective, rigorous, and intellectually responsible as those advocated by positivist philosophers for theoretical explanations.

# Historical Geography and Geographical Thought # Social Sciences # Critical Realism in Sociology # Spatial and Cultural Studies

Leonard Guelke (1974). "AN IDEALIST ALTERNATIVE IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.1974.tb00970.x