Robert Park's Human Ecology and Human Geogrphy∗

In describing the position of human ecology within the system of sciences, Robert Park was concerned with establishing the logical independence of ecology from geography. He used arguments of neo-Kantian philosophy, and to a lesser exten Comtean positivism, to accomplish his goal. The study of the philosophical context of Park's arguments on human science suggests that his views were more compatible with those of the regional geographers of his period than with those of the urban and social geographers who rediscovered his work.