Space, Time and the Articulation of a Place in the World: the Philosophical Context

This chapter shows how philosophical approaches to space attempt to articulate a difference between homogenous scientific space and the spatiality of human existence. From Kant and Hegel through to Agamben and Balibar the question at issue is what it means to be spatially constituted as being which lives in space in an irreducible temporal manner. Space, so understood, is not something external to the self, but rather that in which human beings are immersed as corporeal beings. Places are shown to be historical spaces embodying memories and gesturing possible meaning. However, space as historical place can be exclusionary and increasingly human beings experience place as exiles. Taking a view over the post-Kantian philosophical tradition, it is shown that to be in place is to risk displacement, to dwell is to be amidst ruination, to move is to be moved, to be spatial is also to be subject to spatiality.