ABSTRACT
More formally, the chapter examines some of John Locke’s philosophical arguments in the context of the challenges to the Enlightenment that have been thrown up by the many stranded geographical postmodernisms that have emerged over the last decade (Duncan 1996; Habermas 1981, 1983, 1987; Hoy and McCarthy 1994; Lyotard 1984; Rorty 1986). In particular, it aims to shed light on ethical questions concerning the ‘rights’ and ‘duties’ of academics in general, and of geographers in particular. It thus explores the grounds upon which socially situated geographical practice, concerned with improving the world in which we live, can be justified (see also Unwin 1996).
