CONCEPTUALIZATION OF GEOGRAPHICAL SPACE IN THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE

Abstract

Space is one of the fundamental concepts of human consciousness. Many sciences use the concept of space to describe their own subject areas. For geography, this concept is basic. By analogy with other sciences, geography has formed its own understanding of space – geographical space. In different historical epochs, people have differently represented space. Today, the most widespread are substantive and relational approaches to the interpretation of space. According to the substantive approach, space is a substance, independent of time and matter that acts next to and independently of them. According to the relational approach, space is understood as systems of relations that are formed between objects in the process of their interaction. Among Ukrainian geographers, E. Marunyak, K. Nemets, Y. Oliynyk, A. Stepanenko, O. Smyrnov, O. Topchiyev, O. Shabliy and others elaborated on the concept of geospace and geospatiality. Geographic space is a set of objects that are ordered on the earth's surface, together with the sum of all their connections and interrelations. It is not just the total sum of the geographical positions of all geographical objects, but a new quality that appears as a result of the general interactions of the objects on the earth’s surface. In interpretations of geographical space, the following common features can be distinguished: geospace is one of the aspects of ordering geographical objects; geospace is a collection of relationships between objects; geographical space is characterized by both discreteness and continuity. Meanwhile, in Western scientific literature the concept of geographical space has not become noticeably widespread. Researchers often use the terms “space” and “social space”. Geospace in English-language scientific literature is understood as the outer space near the Earth, including the upper atmosphere, the ionosphere, and the magnetosphere.