FC-01 - Metaphysics and ontology

- Define common theories on what is “real,” such as realism, idealism, relativism, and experiential realism
- Compare and contrast the ability of different theories to explain various situations
- Recognize the commonalities of philosophical viewpoints and appreciate differences to enable work with diverse colleagues
- Evaluate the influences of particular worldviews (including one’s own) on GIS practices
- Justify the metaphysical theories with which you agree
- Identify the ontological assumptions underlying the work of colleagues
FC-03 - Philosophical Perspectives
This entry follows in the footsteps of Anselin’s famous 1989 NCGIA working paper entitled “What is special about spatial?” (a report that is very timely again in an age when non-spatial data scientists are ignorant of the special characteristics of spatial data), where he outlines three unrelated but fundamental characteristics of spatial data. In a similar vein, I am going to discuss some philosophical perspectives that are internally unrelated to each other and could warrant individual entries in this Body of Knowledge. The first one is the notions of space and time and how they have evolved in philosophical discourse over the past three millennia. Related to these are aspects of absolute versus relative conceptions of these two fundamental constructs. The second is a brief introduction to key philosophical approaches and how they impact geospatial science and technology use today. The third is a discussion of which of the promises of the Quantitative Revolution in Geography and neighboring disciplines have been fulfilled by GIScience (and what is still missing). The fourth and final one is an introduction to the role that GIScience may play in what has recently been formalized as theory-guided data science.