The choice of the ‘areal differentiation of the earth’s surface’s as the objective of geographical investigation is an arguable one. It is of interest to ask, however, how we could dispute it. We cannot show, for example, that it is logically unsound, logically incoherent, or logically inconceivable. Some tautological objectives might be dealt with in this way, but the particular objective we are here considering does not contain any inherent contradiction. We might, however, argue that it is not worth while as an objective, that it is too vague to be of very much use to us, or that it does not fit the objectives which most geographers set up when they undertake some substantive investigation. We might even argue that the objective logically entails a programme of study that is not likely to be realizable in the near future and that, thus, the objective is unsound. Whatever logical argument we may produce, however, it is clear that the only grounds upon which we may ultimately dispute the objective are grounds of bene . As individuals we possess values. These values, it is true, are not independent of the society in which we live and work, and in a narrower context they are not likely to be independent of other geographers with whom we have contact and interact. There values guide us to objective that we feel are worth while. Given our own values we may dispute the areal differentiation of the earth’s surface’ as a worth-while objective for study. We may even refer to social values at large and show that this particular objective is odds with the prevailing values which exist in our own society at the present time. A social geographer, for example, wholeheartedly committed to the study of planning problems, might prefer ‘the spatial organization of human activity as the objective for geographical study, to ‘the areal differentiation of the earth’s surface.