Fluvial geomorphology and semiotics

A Wittgensteinian perspective of the ‘divide’ between human and physical geography

Bibliographic Data

ID8962268
AuthorsPauline Couper (0000-0003-0083-223X, Plymouth Marjon University, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume32
Issue3
Pages279-294
Publication date2007-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTransactions of the Institute of British Geographers (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-2754 • E-ISSN: 1475-5661
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1475-5661.2007.00262.x
OpenAlexW1966095839
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited73

This paper presents a broadly realist, pragmatist view of geography, drawing on the work of Wittgenstein to consider the role of language in the divide between human and physical geography. The possibility that we may have ideas that are structured similarly but expressed differently is illustrated through the application of Peircean semiotics to a hierarchy of geomorphological processes in a river system. The resulting ‘scalar semiotic fluvial hierarchy’ allows some of the criticisms of hierarchy to be addressed, and offers geomorphologists a framework for understanding multiple cross‐scale process interactions. Finally, the implications of a Wittgensteinian perspective for geography are considered

Cultural geography · Economic geography · Epistemology · Fluvial · Geography · Geomorphology · Hierarchy · Human geography · Linguistics · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Pragmatism · Schema (genetic algorithms · Semiotics · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Geographic Information Systems Studies · Geography and Education Methods · Geology · Landslides and related hazards · Philosophy