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Geographers emphasizing an existential phenomenological perspective in their research have referred to their work as humanistic geography. Some humanist geographers argue that their approach offers an alternative to, or a presuppositionless basis for, scientific geography. A review of the philosophies espoused by humanist geographers and an examination of their interpretations of these philosophies suggests that humanistic geography is best understood as a form of criticism.HE contemporary "humanist" approach in T geography has received increasing attention from geographers and has paralleled the growth of humanist perspectives in other human sciences.l The humanist approach in geography is best illustrated in the work of geographers such as Tuan, Buttimer, Relph, Mercer, and PowelL2 The philosophy which underlies their DI.

Theoretical discussions of community, identity and democracy rarely make explicit reference to the role of place. When place is discussed it is usually characterized as related to particularistic concerns of local community and is described as a mere setting for human actions. This study explores a more complex, relational concept of place and its potential role in theoretical debate about political community. The example of the European Union is used to illustrate the connection between ideal geographies and conceptions of community. Three competing models of EU political community are discussed: the market, the civic and the cultural pluralist. Each has associated with it a differing spatial logic. This example leads to a consideration of a more cosmopolitan conception of place that moves from the concrete and the particular toward the general and the universal.

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