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From the Philosophies of Geographies to the Applied Ontology of Geography

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The Philosophy of Geo-Ontologies

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Geography ((BRIEFSGEOGRAPHY))

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Abstract

This chapter pursues two main goals. The first one is to explore the domain of investigation of applied ontology of geography, by providing an overview of the mutual interactions among the disciplines encompassed in the domain, namely philosophy, geography, and computer science. The second goal is to reveal the disconnections, by delineating some possible strategies designed to increase the interdisciplinary dialogue. In accordance with such goals, Sects. 1.1–1.5 respectively examine the connections between philosophy and geography, philosophy and geographies, philosophical ontologies and geographies, computer science and geographies, and philosophical ontologies and IT/computer ontologies. Section 1.6 acknowledges that the domain of research of applied ontology of geography should include, at least, two different kinds of geography: empirical geography and academic geography. Then, Sects. 1.7 and 1.8 point out that philosophical and IT/computer ontologies are more connected to empirical geography than to academic geography. Finally, Sect. 1.9 explores the reasons why academic geography is currently disconnected to the (philosophical) ontological debate, and then Sects. 1.10 and 1.11 outline some possible strategies to provide a way out of the disconnections.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Similar distinctions, in the geographical debate, can be found in Raffestin (1980); O'Tuathail (1996).

  2. 2.

    Obviously, this does not mean denying the chance of multiple substitutions; see for example Fig. 1.2.

  3. 3.

    Such parts are respectively analyzed in Chaps. 3–5 and Chaps. 6–7.

  4. 4.

    For an analysis on the different kinds of ontologies behind AOG, see Chap. 2.

  5. 5.

    The results of these experiments are discussed in Chap. 2.

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  1. Department of Science of Cultural Heritage, University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy

    Timothy Tambassi

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Tambassi, T. (2021). From the Philosophies of Geographies to the Applied Ontology of Geography. In: The Philosophy of Geo-Ontologies . SpringerBriefs in Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78145-3_1

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