After the debate concerning the heading "Spatial Turn" has focused on space-oriented research subjects for the last 20 years, a deficiency concerning the conceptual and philosophical foundation of spatial research has often been pointed out in recent times. Although important stimuli for the development of this research trend emerged from philosophy, the subject itself has not yet taken on a leading role in the spatial discussion. It is a discussion, therefore, that philosophy is especially obliged to reflect upon.

The project aims at a philosophical contribution to a process, which reflects on the foundations of the cultural sciences under the heading of the “Spatial Turn“. This objective shall be accomplished by the engagement with “place” within the context of the planned graduate school. Place has attracted special attention in phenomenological approaches since the first half of the 20^th century and it is suitable for profiling the concept of space more precisely. Thus the phenomenological critique of science opposes the primacy of the abstract scientific concept of space by emphasizing that it presupposes the experience of place instead of the reverse. Within the planned graduate school the concept of place – especially, but not exclusively as it is used in phenomenological and poststructuralist approaches – shall be submitted to a systematic analysis. The project lays the focus on place as a knowledge-constructive and action-guiding principle and its fundamental meaning as a unit of sense in our lived experience and knowledge of the world. Place is therefore regarded as a fundamental principle of the cultural sciences, not as their topic. It is not the intention of the project to explore a new topic area as a field of research, rather to grasp reflectively which covert preconditions the cultural sciences already presuppose.

By this means the research programme sets its sights not only on a contribution to the systematic and conceptual foundation of the cultural sciences, but also on a reassessment of the interdisciplinary potential of phenomenology and (post) structuralism. In view of the relevance of place for Japanese philosophy, it would also be desirable to expand the perspective on this topic beyond the Western philosophical tradition.