The ontology of geographical science

a dialogue on geographical categories in cultural and geospatial understanding

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the ontology of geographical science, considering the geospatial transformations, based on the theorization of geographical categories, represented as territory, space, place, and landscape. This study is characterized by a qualitative, inductive, and descriptive approach, given that a literature review was conducted to collect the data. For data analysis, a qualitative and interpretative technique was chosen, considering that this allowed for explanations rather than descriptions within the proposed context. As a result, it became evident that geographical categories are instruments of geospatial interpretation, possessing their own language as an ontological object of geographical science. Furthermore, these categories interact with each other in their specificities, complementing and constructing the idea, or understanding, of cultural space, or space produced and transformed by human action. This study offers theoretical support for geographical knowledge that, in its context, can be used in the ontological interpretation of geographical science.

Keywords: Geography; Territory; Space; Place; Landscape.