Al confine tra ontologia della geografia e border studies

The aim of these pages is to analyze how the notion of boundary has been conceived by contemporary ontologists of geography, outlining the possible advantages of a mutual interaction between ontology and border studies. Firstly, the article shows the most important ontological taxonomies of geographical boundaries, highlighting their main similarities. Secondly, it discusses the relation between cultural elements and geographical boundaries, which represents a fundamental premise of border studies and a potential constituent of ontological categorizations. Thirdly, Epstein’s philosophical distinction between metaphysical grounding and anchoring is considered a metaphor for the different conceptual presuppositions of ontology of geography and border studies. Finally, the distinction between anchoring and grounding helps sketching a possible strategy for integrating the ontological debate within the interdisciplinary perspectives of border studies.