Environmental Determinism
Environmental Determinism
Throughout the study of geography, there have been a number of different approaches to explaining the development of the world's societies and cultures. One that received much prominence in geographic history but has declined in recent decades of academic study is environmental determinism.
Environmental determinism is the belief that the environment (most notably its physical factors such as landforms and/or climate) determines the patterns of human culture and societal development. Environmental determinists believe that it is these environmental, climatic, and geographical factors alone that are responsible for human cultures and individual decisions and/or social conditions have virtually no impact on cultural development.
The main argument of environmental determinism states that an area's physical characteristics like climate have a strong impact on the psychological outlook of its inhabitants. These varied outlooks then spread throughout a population and help define the overall behavior and culture of a society. For instance it was said that areas in the tropics were less developed than higher latitudes because the continuously warm weather there made it easier to survive and thus, people living there did not work as hard to ensure their survival.
Another example of environmental determinism would be the theory that island nations have unique cultural traits solely because of their isolation from continental societies.
Environmental Determinism and Early Geography
Although environmental determinism is a fairly recent approach to formal geographic study, its origins go back to ancient times. Climatic factors for example were used by Strabo, Plato, and Aristotle to explain why the Greeks were so much more developed in the early ages than societies in hotter and colder climates. Additionally, Aristotle came up with his climate classification system to explain why people were limited to settlement in certain areas of
Throughout the study of geography, there have been a number of different approaches to explaining the development of the world's societies and cultures. One that received much prominence in geographic history but has declined in recent decades of academic study is environmental determinism.
Environmental determinism is the belief that the environment (most notably its physical factors such as landforms and/or climate) determines the patterns of human culture and societal development. Environmental determinists believe that it is these environmental, climatic, and geographical factors alone that are responsible for human cultures and individual decisions and/or social conditions have virtually no impact on cultural development.
The main argument of environmental determinism states that an area's physical characteristics like climate have a strong impact on the psychological outlook of its inhabitants. These varied outlooks then spread throughout a population and help define the overall behavior and culture of a society. For instance it was said that areas in the tropics were less developed than higher latitudes because the continuously warm weather there made it easier to survive and thus, people living there did not work as hard to ensure their survival.
Another example of environmental determinism would be the theory that island nations have unique cultural traits solely because of their isolation from continental societies.
Environmental Determinism and Early Geography
Although environmental determinism is a fairly recent approach to formal geographic study, its origins go back to ancient times. Climatic factors for example were used by Strabo, Plato, and Aristotle to explain why the Greeks were so much more developed in the early ages than societies in hotter and colder climates. Additionally, Aristotle came up with his climate classification system to explain why people were limited to settlement in certain areas of