Geographical Guide to the Real and the Good

In this original and ambitious work, the renowned geographer Robert Sack argues for places that expand our awareness of reality and that increase the variety and complexity of reality. The joint application of these two criteria is the basis of a geographically informed moral theory that emphasizes the role of altruism. As well, it sheds light on the connection between the real and the good. Place-making that is guided by these criteria can affect our concepts of justice, our concerns about nature, and our views of democracy and the economy. What emerges is a geographical theory of morality based on the concepts of space, place, and place-making. Using historical and contemporary examples at all geographical scales to illustrate his theory, Sack forces readers see their geographical actions and everyday surroundings in an entirely new way. Preface, INTRODUCTION, Chapter 1. Geography, the Real, and the Good, Chapter 2. The Power of Place, PART I. INSTRUMENTAL JUDGMENTS, Chapter 3. Situatedness and Relativism, Chapter 4. Situatedness and Absolutism, PART II. INTRINSIC JUDGMENTS, Chapter 5. The Theory, Chapter 6. Geopsychological Dynamics, Chapter 7. Geosocial Dynamics, POSTSCRIPT, Chapter 8. The Problematic and Moral Theory, Notes, Index