THE THEORY OF ENVIRONMENT Part I The University of Chicago THE THEORY OF ENVIRONMENT _An Outline of the History of the Idea of Milieu, and its Present Status_ PART I A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF GERMANIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES BY ARMIN HAJMAN KOLLER The Collegiate Press GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY MENASHA, WISCONSIN 1918 THE THEORY OF ENVIRONMENT PART I _An Outline of the History of the Idea of Milieu, and its Present Status_ BY ARMIN HAJMAN KOLLER, PH.D. Instructor in German The University of Illinois “............................. _He fixed thee ’mid this dance Of plastic circumstance_.” Robert Browning, “_Rabbi Ben Ezra_.” The Collegiate Press GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY MENASHA, WISCONSIN 1918 _Copyright, 1918 By Armin H. Koller_ TO MY PARENTS CONTENTS PAGE Introductory Remark. Meanings of the Word _Milieu_ 1 I. A Sketch of the History of the Idea of Milieu Down to the Nineteenth Century 7 II. A Sketch of the History of the Idea of Milieu Since the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century 27 Anthropo-geography, Geography and History 27 Geography and History 42 More Recent Anthropo-geographical Treatises 65 Primitive Peoples and Environment 69 Society and Physical Milieu 74 Government, War, Progress, and Climate 76 Climate and Man’s Characteristics 80 Man’s Intellect and Physical Environment 81 Religion and Physical Milieu 83 Climate and Conduct 84