Humanist Geography: An Individual’s Search for Meaning

by Yi-Fu Tuan

For more than fifty years, Yi-Fu Tuan has carried the study of humanistic geography—what John K. Wright early in the twentieth century called geosophy , a blending of geography and philosophy—to new heights, offering with each new book a fresh and often unique intellectual introspection into the human condition. His latest book, Humanist Geography , is a testament of all that he has learned and encountered as a geographer.
    In returning to and reappraising his previous books, Tuan emphasizes how the study of humanist geography can offer a younger generation of students, scholars, and teachers a path toward self-discovery, personal fulfillment, and even enlightenment. He argues that in the study of place can be found the wonders of the human mind and imagination, especially as understood by the senses, even as we human beings deal with nature's stringencies and our own deep flaws.

Genres: Philosophy, Geography, Sociology, Nonfiction

216 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

Fu Tuan (Traditional Chinese: 段義孚, born 5 December 1930) is a Chinese-U.S. geographer.
Tuan was born in 1930 in Tientsin, China. He was the son of a rich oligarch and was part of the top class in the Republic of China. Tuan attended University College, London, but graduated from the University of Oxford with a B.A. and M.A. in 1951 and 1955 respectively. From there he went to California to continue his geographic education. He received his Ph.D. in 1957 from the University of California, Berkeley.

Reviews

[映月 刘 · Rating 5 out of 5]

My heart belongs to Yi-Fu Tuan.

[versarbre · Rating 4 out of 5]

The moving-senses create time and space. Humans hereby create connections, and parts are connected as channeled wholes. Thus is humanist geography from the individual to the cosmos. Very poetic.

[Mammoth33 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful & enjoyable

[Jiafan · Rating 5 out of 5]

「沒有知識時，很難激起熱情；只有知識，沒有真理上的進步，則只會收穫詭辯。」