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Overview
Places are today subject to contrary tendencies. They lose some functions, which may scale up to fewer more centralized places, or down to numerous more dispersed places, and they gain other functions, which are scaling up and down from other places. This prompts premature prophecies of the abolition of space and the obsolescence of place. At the same time, a growing literature testifies to the persistence of place as an incorrigible aspect of human experience, identity, and morality. Place is a common ground for thought and action, a community of experienced particulars that avoids solipsism and universalism. It draws us into the philosophy of the ordinary, into familiarity as a form of knowledge, into the wisdom of proximity. Each of these essays offers a philosophy of place, and reminds us that such philosophies ultimately decide how we make, use, and understand places, whether as accidents, instruments, or fields of care.
Synopsis
A growing literature testifies to the persistence of place as an incorrigible aspect of human experience, identity, and morality. Place is a common ground for thought and action, a community of experienced particulars that avoids solipsism and universalism. It draws us into the philosophy of the ordinary, into familiarity as a form of knowledge, into the wisdom of proximity. Each of these essays offers a philosophy of place, and reminds us that such philosophies ultimately decide how we make, use, and understand places, whether as accidents, instruments, or fields of care.
Booknews
In this third annual volume, philosophers and geographers examine the most basic ideas of place itself. Light (philosophy and environmental studies, the State U. of NY at Binghamton) and Smith (geography, Texas A&M) along with sixteen other scholars have contributed essays that range from expositions of particular places, such as one article examining the myth of the Inner Valleys as a Zionist place, to more general treatments of theoretical concerns involving the idea of place, such as an article seeking to answer the question: "can a sense of place be preserved?" Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Editorials
Philosophy in Review
an illuminating examination of many of the issues implicated by the notion of place and space. . . . These articles serve to make this a fine introduction to the philosophy of place.— Steve Wall, University of South Florida
Environmental Politics
...each contribution makes an interesting reading.Choice
The articles are academically rigorous, and the arguments are presented in clear language. . . . A solid and enjoyable introduction to the underlying and tectonic philosophical issues for those scientists working in environmental policy, conservation biology, or any ecology-centered field of study.— M. C. E. Peterson,, University of Wisconsin Colleges