Entre a unidade e a fragmentação: a dicotomia Geografia Física e Geografia Humana

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the fragmentation between Physical Geography and Human Geography as an expression of modern rationality and examines its impacts on the constitution of geographic knowledge. The central concern of the study is to investigate whether the Physical–Human dichotomy has the potential to undermine Geography’s specificity as a scientific field. Authors such as Wooldridge and East (1967), Mendonça (1998), Suertegaray (2001), Lacoste (2011), and Souza (2024) highlight the harmful effects of fragmentation on Geography, pointing to the epistemological difficulties this process has generated for both geographic thought and practice. Based on these premises, the objective of this research is to analyze the causes and consequences of fragmentation within Geography, with particular emphasis on the Physical versus Human dichotomy. Methodologically, the study is grounded in a theoretical and conceptual literature review. The analyses developed throughout the dissertation support the argument that the dichotomous fragmentation between Physical Geography and Human Geography constitutes an epistemological problem, compromising Geography’s specificity as a science oriented toward the understanding of relations. It is concluded that this division is not merely organizational or institutional, but rather expresses a legacy of modern fragmentary rationality, further reinforced by internal dynamics within the geographic field itself. In this sense, the study argues for the necessity of overcoming this dichotomy through the affirmation of a unity constructed within diversity, capable of preserving analytical plurality without undermining the epistemological coherence of Geography.