Rudolph Goclenius the Elder (; born Rudolf Gockel or Göckel; 1 March 1547 – 8 June 1628) was a German scholastic philosopher. He is sometimes credited with coining the term psychology in 1590, though the term had been used by Pier Nicola Castellani and Gerhard Synellius 65 years earlier.
Life Goclenius was born in the town of Korbach, located in Waldeck (present-day Waldeck-Frankenberg, Hesse).
He studied at the University of Erfurt,Loeneysen, B. Series Magnificorum Rectorum ... Universitatis, Erfurt 1614, p. 26: "Under this same Rector [Joachim Hencke, 1566], the most distinguished man Mr. Rodolphus Goclenius of Korbach, the most acute philosopher of our age, was adorned with his first laurel". the University of Marburg and the University of Wittenberg,Album Academiae Vitebergensis, Second Volume, Halle 1894, p. 179. His last name is misspelled as "Gocleuius"; cf. earning his M.A. in 1571. While at Wittenberg, Goclenius published his first book, a collection of short poems., Wittenberg 1571. In 1573, he returned to Korbach to direct the local gymnasium, and two years later, he took up the same role in Kassel (Michaelmas 1575).Weber, C. F. Geschichte der städtischen Gelehrtenschule zu Cassel, Kassel 1846, p. 58. Prior to his appointment in Korbach, he had written to the town’s consuls, Antonius Leusmann and Johannes von Ditmarkhausen, urging the restoration of the school, emphasizing the importance of philosophical education, and requesting financial support due to personal hardship.Schultze, V. Zur Vorgeschichte des Corbacher Gymnasiums. Geschichtsblätter für Waldeck und Pyrmont, 2. Band, 1902, pp. 114-119. During that period, he also responded to unusual natural phenomena: Jeremias Nicolai, a student at Korbach Stadtschule from Autumn 1574 onwards, brother of Philipp Nicolai, reported that Goclenius "promptly" composed a poem about "fiery air phenomena" () observed in the city on November 14, 1574.Curtze, L. D. Philipp Nicolai's Leben und Lieder, Halle 1859, p. 17. According to Curtze this poem was added to Goclenius' Liber Selectiorum Carminum (Marburg, 1606). It was published in Marburg later that year., Marburg 1574. City historian Wolfgang Medding has suggested that this poem was inspired by an aurora,Medding, W. Korbach : Die Geschichte einer deutschen Stadt, Korbach 1980, p. 164. a hypothesis supported by historical records of auroral observations.Frobesius, J. N. Nova et Antiqua Luminis Atque Aurorae Borealis Spectacula, Helmstedt 1739, pp. 42-43; Fritz, H. Verzeichniss beobachteter Polarlichter, Wien 1873, p. 22. The atmospheric phenomena Goclenius first addressed poetically in 1574 reappeared in scholarly form three decades later, when he treated auroras ("chasmata") in his Mirror of Complete Physics (1604).Physicae completae speculum, Marburg 1604, pp. 738-744.
In 1581, Landgrave Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Kassel, himself a distinguished astronomer, denied Goclenius’s request to return to his hometown of Korbach but instead granted him a professorship at the University of Marburg. Goclenius was officially appointed on September 9 of that year and began his academic career by addressing his colleagues on the subject of physics.Caesar, C. I. Catalogi studiosorum scholae Marpurgensis (March 22, 1879), Marburg 1879, p. 5. He delivered three hours of lectures daily: one for the general public (pro lectione publica), one for master's students (pro magistrandis), and one for bachelor's students (pro baccalaureandis).Letter by Landgrave Ludwig to his brother Wilhelm, October 4, 1581. In: H. Heppe (Hrsg.), Geschichte der hessischen Generalsynoden von 1568-1582. Zweiter Band, Kassel 1847, p. 221. Over time, he held chairs in physics, logic, mathematics, and ethics, though the precise date of his appointment to the logic professorship remains uncertain, as noted by historian Franz Gundlach.Gundlach, F. Marburg 1927, pp. 387-388. As of December 18, 1589, Goclenius was still serving as Professor of Physics, a role in which he conferred the title of Magister upon thirty students. His transition to the logic chair is suggested by the preface dated January 13, 1590, to his Three Books of Philosophical Debates, on Certain Logical and Physical Questions, published in Marburg that same year. He began teaching mathematics intermittently from 1598, and on May 9, 1603, he succeeded Petrus Nigidius the Younger in the ethics professorship, adding it to his existing role in logic.
Goclenius was frequently consulted for his learned judgment on a variety of matters. In a letter to Otto Melander (dated July 4, 1597), he recounts having been commissioned by Wilhelm IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel—through his Chancellor—to investigate the physical causes of witches floating, a task that led him to compose a speech on the subject. In the same letter, Goclenius expressed his approval of Melander’s work refuting the practice of witch purgation by cold water.Melander, O. Resolutio praecipuarum quaestionum criminalis adversus sagas processus, Lich 1597, p. 105. On the occasion of student performances of Friedrich Dedekind’s The Christian Knight in February 1604 at the Katharineum in Braunschweig, Goclenius responded to a question posed by Rector Johannes Bechmann: “Whether comedies and tragedies are permissible in a well-ordered state.” He argued affirmatively that such plays, when performed with pious intent, contribute significantly to students’ intellectual and ethical development.Elster, R. Gymnasium Martino-Katharineum Braunschweig. Festschrift zur 500-Jahr-Feier am 17. und 18. März 1926, Braunschweig 1926, p. 215.
In 1618, Wilhelm's son Moritz appointed Goclenius as one of four delegates to represent Hesse-Kassel at the Synod of Dort, alongside Georg Cruciger, Paul Steinius, and Daniel Angelocrator.Rommel, C. v. Neuere Geschichte von Hessen, Zweiter Band, Kassel 1837, pp. 586-588; Heppe, H. Kirchengeschichte beider Hessen, Zweiter Band, Marburg 1876, pp. 47-53; Schäufele, W. F. Reformierte Konfessionalisierung an der Universität Marburg. In: Id. (Hrsg.) Reformation der Kirche - Reform der Bildung, Münster 2020, p. 216. His instructions, dated October 1, 1618, outlined the approach and guidelines for conducting the delegates’ business. Moritz decreed that Steinius would serve as the leading delegate with voting rights. Although Goclenius was initially designated as an extraordinary delegate—“not indeed to sit, but only to listen, and to be consulted privately if necessary”H. Heppe, Historia synodi nationalis Dordracenae, Zeitschrift für die historische Theologie, 23. Band, 1853, p. 230.—he was nonetheless granted the opportunity to address the assembly formally. In the sixty-seventh session, held on January 25, 1619, he delivered a speech in which he “thoroughly refuted the principal syllogism of the Remonstrants, which was derived from the execution of predestination, using logical principles.”Acta Synodi Nationali, Leiden 1620, p. 194 (French translation: Actes du Synode national tenu à Dordrecht, l'an 1618 et 19, Leiden 1624, p. 371). New edition: Sinnema, D., Moser, C. & Selderhuis, H.J. (Eds.), Acta et Documenta Synodi Nationalis Dordrechtanae (1618-1619). Vol. 1, Göttingen 2015, p. 120.
In his later years, Goclenius faced profound personal and institutional upheaval.Freudenthal, J. Goclenius, Rudolph, in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, 9. Band, Leipzig 1879, p. 310. The death of his son, Rudolph Goclenius the Younger, in 1621 deeply affected him, both emotionally and professionally.In Funere Rodolphi Goclenii Iunioris, in: Goclenius, R. [Jr.], Tractatus Physicus & Medicus, Frankfurt 1621, pp. 5-6. Following the Aulic Council’s judgment of 1623, which resolved the Marburg inheritance dispute in favor of Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, Goclenius was among the professors retained at the University of Marburg. On March 27, 1624, he formally swore allegiance to Louis V, thereby securing his continued position at the university. Correspondence from this period—particularly letters addressed to Johann Peter Lotichius—reveal Goclenius’s personal reflections on the political and academic turmoil of the time. The letters also reveal his declining health and literary output, alongside continued admiration for Lotichius’s scholarly achievements.Lotichius, J. Censura, Frankfurt 1645, pp. 85-89.
Recognizing Goclenius’s advanced age, George II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, granted him retirement in 1627. George II directed the professors to nominate suitable successors for the chairs of Logic and Rhetoric. Responding to this directive, the faculty convened and, on June 20, 1627, recommended Reverend Konrad Greber for the extraordinary professorship of Logic and Dr. Theodor Höpingk for the professorship of Rhetoric.Caesar, C. I. Catalogi studiosorum scholae Marpurgensis (March 22, 1886), Marburg 1886, p. 24. Although officially retired, Goclenius remained active in academic life and continued to participate in examinations throughout the following year. The final exam, however—held just one day before his death—took place in his absence.Disputatio Logico-Metaphysica De Praedicamentis in Genere et in Specie De Categoria Substantiae, Marburg 1628. The candidate was Wilhelm Apfell from Assenheim in the Wetterau. On the morning of Trinity Sunday, on June 8, 1628, as Goclenius was preparing to go to church, he suffered a stroke and died.Letter by Hermann Vultejus to Johann Peter Lotichius, in: Lotichius, J. P., Censura, Frankfurt 1645, pp. 92-93; Caesar, C. I. Catalogi studiosorum scholae Marpurgensis, Part 14 (March 22, 1886), Marburg 1886, p. 32. The previous day, he had dinner with Hermann Vultejus and his son-in-law Christoph Deichmann, Chancellor of Lippe. Vultejus recalled, that Goclenius was mentally sharp and articulate, just as he had been in his younger days. After his burial, which took place two days later, Wolfgang Riemenschneider (Loriseca) delivered a speech praising Goclenius as "leader of today's philosophers, Marburgian Plato, European light, Hessian immortal glory".Loriseca, W. Gratiarum actio a deductis exsequiis Dn. Rodolphi Goclenii, in: Orationes, Kassel 1631, pp. 239-245. First published in Panegyricus Acutissimo ac Celeberrimo Dn. Rodolpho Goclenio Seniori, Marburg 1629. Paul Freher, in Theatrum virorum eruditione clarorum (1688), noted that Goclenius, “besides those to whom he granted the first degree in philosophy over a span of 35 years, personally conferred the honors of Master upon more than 600 individuals.”Freher, P. Theatri Virorum Eruditione Clarorum Tomus Posterior, Nürnberg 1688, p. 1522
Johann Balthasar Schupp, once Goclenius's pupil, satirically recounted that his teacher had declared the 1598 work Analecta, published in Lich, to be the best book he had ever written. The anecdote appears in Schupp’s Ambassadeur Zipphusius, a satirical allegory in which Zipphusius—a fictional schoolmaster from Mount Parnassus, the mythical seat of the Muses and a symbol of intellectual and artistic excellence—is dispatched to the princes and estates of the Holy Roman Empire with a critique of the educational system.Schupp, J. B. Vom Schulwesen. Leipzig 1891, p. 23. Originally in Zugab Doct: Joh: Balth: Schuppii Schrifften, Hanau 1667, p. 120.
Family Before enrolling at Wittenberg on July 31, 1570, to pursue his master’s degree, Goclenius married his first wife, Margarethe.Strieder, 1784, p. 432. Abraham Saur, a jurist in Marburg, recorded the following in his chronicle for April 10: