Sometimes, Goclenius is attributed with the invention of the term "psychology" in 1590. However, it is important to note that the word had already been used by Marko Marulić almost seven decades earlier (Kühner, 2017). Additionally, Goclenius is recognized as one of the first writers to use the term ontology. According to Kühner (2017), he held the position of professor of philosophy, logic, metaphysics, and ethics at the Philipps University of Marburg, and he wrote about logic, philosophy, and psychology at a time when the Malleus Maleficarum continued to be a bestseller, surpassed only by the Bible.
Biography
On March 1, 1547, the scholastic philosopher Rudolphus Goclenius the Elder was born in Korbach, Germany (Sack, 2021; Kühner, 2017). He was the son of respected burghers from Korbach in the County of Waldeck, an independent territory of the Holy Roman Empire, located on the Eder River, northwest of the present-day state of Hesse, Germany (Sack, 2021). In this town, he first attended the local school until 1564 and then studied in Erfurt before continuing his studies in Marburg from 1567. In 1568, he returned to Korbach and taught at his former institute. On April 9, 1570, he married Margaretha Emmerich, whom he possibly knew from his childhood. On July 31, 1570, he enrolled at the University of Wittenberg, where he earned the title of Magister on March 13, 1571, and taught until 1573. Subsequently, as per Sack (2021), he returned to his hometown, Korbach, and served as the director of the municipal school from 1573 to 1575.
In 1575, the landowner William IV of Hesse-Kassel appointed him rector of the Kassler Pädagogium (Sack, 2021). During this time, he adopted the Latinized academic name Goclenius. In Kassel, according to Sack (2021), he leaned towards the philosophical direction of Ramism, named after the famous French humanist, Petrus Ramus, without completely rejecting Melanchthonism, which he had encountered during his school and study days. By the late 16th century, the philosophical world was divided into two hostile camps: the Ramists and the antiramists (Sack, 2021). However, according to Kristic (2001), due to his philosophical attitude, Goclenius belonged to the so-called "semiramists," i.e., the group of Aristotelians who were in an intermediate position between those advocating the dialectical interpretation of Aristotle's knowledge and those advocating his Averroistic exposition.
In Goclenius's circle of friends were admirers of Ramus, such as Hieronymus Treutler and Rudolph Snellius; opponents of Ramus, like Nikodemus Frischlin and Philipp Scherbius; semiramists, like Bilstein; independent thinkers, such as Nicolaus Taurellus, and opponents like Johannes Weber, Johannes Hesselbein, Libavius, and Daniel Hofmann (Sack, 2021). Probably, this was the reason why the inhabitants of Korbach wanted to attract him back to the city in 1580, where the Gymnasium of Korbach had just reopened to teach the spirit of Ramist principles. However, the landowner did not want to lose his scholar and refused to allow him to continue but agreed to transfer him to Marburg, Germany. According to Sack (2021), despite offers from the universities of Bremen, Herborn, Lemgo, and even Wittenberg, the most important of all Protestant universities at the time, they failed to lure him away from Marburg.
In 1581, Goclenius accepted the call as a philosophy professor (Sack, 2021). From 1589, he taught logic and mathematics as a professor, and from 1603, he taught logic and ethics. Goclenius's reputation attracted numerous students to Marburg, not only from all parts of Germany but also from foreign countries. Along with the jurist Hermann Vultejus, he exerted a significant influence on the development of the University of Marburg. Both advised the landowner Moritz of Hesse. In 1618, Moritz sent Goclenius with three theologians to the Synod of Dordrecht. According to Sack (2021), although Goclenius was not a genius or had a deep or original nature, he possessed broad erudition, quick wit, dialectical sharpness, clarity, and lightness of exposition, unusual even in those times of polymathy, along with a kind, fresh, and peaceful demeanor.
The last years of his life were embittered by multiple dark events (Sack, 2021). In 1621, he lost his eldest son, Rudolph, who had worked alongside him for 13 years as a physics professor at the University of Marburg. Two years later, the horrors of the Thirty Years' War descended upon Hesse. A conflict over inheritance between Moritz and Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt led to Tilly and his execution army arriving in Marburg in 1624. Eventually, the city and the university came under the possession of the House of Darmstadt, and as a result, many professors were dismissed. The burden Goclenius carried is reflected in a poem from 1624, expressing exhaustion from heart-wrenching concerns, sick in the soul amid the turmoil of all things sacred and profane. According to Sack (2021), he died with his strength almost intact but full of pain for the state of his homeland on June 8, 1628, at the age of 81.
The Christian Aristotle
He was widely known in his time and celebrated as the "Plato of Marburg" or the "Christian Aristotle" (Sack, 2021). In addition to various treatises in the field of logic and a philosophical dictionary, he published a treatise in the year 1590, titled "Psychologia: hoc est, de hominis perfectione, animo, et in primis ortu hujus" (Kristic, 2001). According to the available information, this is the earliest preserved printed book containing the word "psychology" in the title (Kristic, 2001). In this context, the term psychology refers to both a research subject and the research itself (Sack, 2021). He is also recognized for being the first to separate ontology from special metaphysics, a practice that became common in the teaching of philosophy after him. Apart from that, he proved to be incredibly knowledgeable and versatile. However, it cannot be said that he had much intellectual independence. According to Sack (2021), his descriptions often appear too general and nebulous, and he frequently resorted to erudite tricks.
Ontology
The term ontology seems to have been used for the first time in German by Goclenius (Sack, 2021). In a similar time period, there is a reference to Jacob Lorhard, who worked as a professor in San Gall, Switzerland. Johann Georg Walch, in his work "Philosophisches Lexicon," defines ontology as the doctrine of the end, a designation that some recent philosophers have interpreted as the science dealing with the end in general and its properties. However, the term "ontology" was first used in its proper sense by Goclenius in 1613 and by Clauberg in 1656. Similarly, Goclenius separated ontology from metaphysics. According to Sack (2021), in classical philosophical systematic, ontology is considered a fragment of metaphysics, i.e., general metaphysics as opposed to special metaphysics, which deals with topics like God, the soul, and the world.
Despite the term "ontology" being introduced relatively late in the history of philosophy, its subject matter was already addressed in antiquity (Sack, 2021). According to Sack (2021), Rudolphus Goclenius distinguished ontology as "philosophia de ente" based on its object's relationship to the matter of "scientia transnaturalis," interpreted as the doctrine of God and angels.
A Theorist of Witchcraft
As a theorist of witchcraft, he gained some importance thanks to his discourse "Oratio de natura sagarum in purgatione et examinatione per frigidam aquis innatantium" in the year 1583, which was also printed in the year 1590 (Sack, 2021). In this discourse, the doctrine of the water trial was addressed. This ancient divine judgment had been reintroduced as a "witch's bath" during the witch hunts that took place in the early modern period. As a result, an academic dispute arose regarding its legality. Goclenius primarily argued against Wilhelm Adolf Scribonius, who vehemently defended the legality of the water trial for the crime of witchcraft. However, according to Sack (2021), Goclenius turned out to be a proponent of the witchcraft doctrine, in total agreement with the explanations present in the Malleus Maleficarum.
Referencias
Kühner, W. (2017). On Rudolphus Goclenius and the latest news about the “folk on the dark side”. Medium. Recuperado 4 November 2021, a partir de https://medium.com/kühner-kommentar/on-rudolphus-goclenius-and-the-latest-news-about-the-folk-on-the-dark-side-54a867b46b7f
Kristic, K. (2001). Classics in the History of Psychology. Psychclassics.yorku.ca. Recuperado 4 November 2021, a partir de https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Krstic/marulic.htm
Sack, H. (2021). Rudolph Goclenius the Elder and the Philosophical Discipline of Ontology. SciHi Blog. Recuperado 4 November 2021, a partir de http://scihi.org/Rudolph-goclenius-ontology/
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