The Concept of Geographical Holism as a Combined Consideration of Nature and Society

Abstract

The article raises the problem of forming a new scientific direction – geographical holism, which would combine the delimited subject areas of physical and social geography. It is noted that modern requests for geographical knowledge are focused on the integral consideration of the Earth’s shell – complex and integrated geographical studies, although domestic geography is not sufficiently defined and contradictory to the issue of integrated consideration of the Earth’s shell as an integral geosphere. On the one hand, geographers try to take into account all the factors of functioning of the Earth’s shell – both natural-geographical and socio-economic, while the general geographical direction of research in the system ofgeographical sciences is represented only by auxiliary and serving disciplines. The purpose of the article is to determine the cognitive functions and target attitudes of a new scientific direction of geographical research, structuring its conceptual basis. When conducting the study, the authors were guided by general scientific methods in geographical research and fundamental philosophical methods. The authors used research in the field of synergetics, system analysis, which reveal a fundamentally new type of connection between nature and society in their interaction, increasing the effectiveness of geographical research as a result of integration, merging individual parts of geographical science into a single integral system. The article notes that the scientific development of rational nature management requires an understanding of the principles and mechanisms of functioning of the Earth’s shell as an integral and synergistic (self-regulated) socio-natural system. A generalized system of geographical sciences is proposed, in which four blocks are distinguished. The holistic direction of geographical research is based on the methodological block of the system of geographical sciences, which includes the analysis of the geospatial position of geographical objects and phenomena, the doctrine of territorial geographical complexes and systems, geospatial taxonomy of objects and phenomena in relation to the Earth’s shell, the concept of geospatial (territorial) organization of society.