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Abstract. Some have argued that the vagueness exhibited by geographic names and descriptions such as ‘Albuquerque’, ‘the Outback’, or ‘Mount Everest ’ is ultimately ontological: these terms are vague because they refer to vague objects, objects with fuzzy boundaries. I take the opposite stand and hold the view that geographic vagueness is exclusively semantic, or conceptual at large. There is no such thing as a vague mountain. Rather, there are many things where we conceive a mountain to be, each with its precise boundary, and when we say ‘Everest ’ we are just being vague as to which thing we are referring to. This paper defends this view against some plausible objections.

Abstract Where some have attempted to apply cognitive methods to the study of geography, the present paper is designed to serve as a starting point for applying methods of geographic ontology to the phenomena of cognition. Agglomerations are aggregates of entities that are dispersed through space on geographic scales. Examples include: plagues, biological species, major world religions. The paper applies standard mereotopological theories of spatial regions to agglomerations in this sense. It offers the beginnings of a general theory of the relations between social, cultural, ethnic and religious agglomerations on the one hand and territorially demarcated spatial objects on the other. In this way it serves as the basis for a general ontological theory of types of human groups and also of types of conflict between these groups. At the same time it provides ontological foundations for the epidemiological study of cognitive phenomena, and especially of cognitive phenomena in the sociopolitical realm.

. Geography presents interesting and intricate trade-offs between empirical data and demands, on the one hand, and deep philosophical issues (from ontology to political philosophy) , on the other. What is a geographic entity? What is the relationship between a geographic entity and a physical territory? Can a geographic entity survive without a territory or without definite borders? Can it survive radical changes in its territory? Are there clear-cut identity criteria for geographic categories? This paper serves as an introduction to a special issue of Topoi whose aim is to go a first step towards a better understanding of these questions and of their implications for the theory of the geographic world. The world of geography is extraordinarily varied. It includes mountains and rivers but also states and cities and voting precincts. It includes concrete parcels of land and water bodies as well as abstract fields of land-use and rain-fall. It includes natural topographic features such ...

On one walk he ‘gave ’ to me each tree that we passed, with the reservation that I was not to cut it down or do anything to it, or prevent the previous owners from doing anything to it: with those reservations it was henceforth mine. 2 1. The Eruv is Up! ‘Eruv ’ is a Hebrew word meaning literally ‘mixture ’ or ‘mingling’. An eruv is an urban region demarcated within a larger urban region by means of a boundary made up of telephone wires or similar markers. Through the creation of the eruv, the smaller region is turned symbolically (‘halachically ’ = according to Jewish law) into a private domain. Orthodox Jews may, so long as they remain within the boundaries of the eruv, and so long as these boundaries are undisturbed (the eruv is up! 3), engage in activities that would otherwise be prohibited on the Sabbath, such as pushing prams or wheelchairs, carrying walking sticks, books, keys, gloves, or spectacles, wearing jewelry, including watches, and walking dogs. There are eruvim in many towns and university campuses throughout the world. There are five eruvim in Chicago, five in Brooklyn, twenty three in Queens and Long Island, and at least three in