Mehr-als-irdische Geographien und die zweite Kopernikanische Wende des planetarischen Denkens. Eine metaphorologische Kritik

Bibliographic Data

ID24224907
AuthorsSimon Runkel (0000-0002-3774-2433, Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Jena, Germany))
Year2026
Volume81
Issue3
Pages517-533
Publication date2026-09-24
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeographica Helvetica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0016-7312 • E-ISSN: 2194-8798
PublisherCopernicus GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.5194/gh-81-517-2026
OpenAlexW7214196086
LanguageEN
References cited64

The article examines the terms earth, globe and world as central ciphers of geographical thinking and places them in a genealogy of the history of ideas and science. The focus is on the current boom in planetary thinking, which is fanned out into two currents: on the one hand in (earth) system-theoretical totality, on the other hand in post-humanist perspectives on co-existence. In both discourses, a new Copernican turn is claimed, whose metaphorological content, however, points to a continuation of post-Copernican ambivalence. Based on Hans Blumenberg's metaphorology, it is shown how planetary semantics oscillates between epistemic upheaval and anthropocentric self-assertion (Selbstbehauptung). The article is intended as a plea for a stronger reception of humanities thinking styles in geography. Here, metaphorology proves to be an approach to the critical reflection of disciplinary world and self-relations under the sign of planetarism. The euphoric welcome of planetary thinking in geography and the pleas for a new Copernican turn are evidence of the unbroken discursive power of this metaphor.

Anthropocentrism · Assertiveness · coexistence · Copernican turn · globes · Hans Blumenberg · history of geographical thought · metaphorology · planetary thinking · Posthumanism · Systems theory · World · Earth Systems and Cosmic Evolution · Historical Geography and Geographical Thought · Spatial and Cultural Studies

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