Possibilism

From Geography

Environmental possibilism is developed as a reaction to environmental determinism. Environmental determinism says that the physical environment determines the way people act and the way a culture developes. For the environmental determinists the way a culture has developed is mainly a stimulus - response reaction (note/question: isn't that also somehow what behaviourism says, only in a broader way?) to the physical environment. Environmental possibilism argues that 'land and life influence each other in a two-way mutual relationship'. In other words: milieux (natural environment) and civilisations (human communities) influence each other constantly. This leads to different lifestyles of peoples communities throughout the world, and thus to many possibe outcomes of the interaction between milieux and civilisations. So to summarise: possiblism is saying that life and land influence each other and determinism says that there is a one way direction influence from land to life.

Humanists use Vidal’s possibilism: the natural environment offers possible avenues for human development – the precise one chosen is a human decision. (Cloke et al, 1991, p. 65)

References

• Cloke, P., Philo, Chr. & Sadler, D. (eds) (1991) Approaching Human Geography: An Introduction To Contemporary Theoretical Debates. Chapman, London. Chapter 3: Peopling human geography and the development of humanistic approaches.
• Possibilism