Հովհան Որոտնեցու կյանքն ու գործունեությունը

Abstract

Hovhan Vorotnetsy (1315-1388) is а medieval Armenian philosopher, educator and ecclesiastical figure. – Soberly assessing the peril of the evangelical work of Catholic missionaries and their Armenian followers, the so-called Unitors (ունիթոր, միարար), threatening the national identity of the Armenian people and the foundations of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Hovhan Vorotnetsy led the anti-Unitor movement in Armenia. As a genuine scholar, he first conducted a comprehensive study in the writings by Catholic authors, got acquainted with their sources and methods of argumentation, and afterwards, armed with not only the knowledge prevalent in the Armenian bibliography, but also with the innovative ideas of his opponents, carried on a mature and intelligent struggle
against them. Hovhan Vorotnetsy was engaged in a prolific pedagogical activity. He was the founder of Tatev University and other institutions of higher education, where not only theological literature, but also philosophy, logic, grammar, rhetoric and other disciplines were taught. Hovhan Vorotnetsy’s theoretical heritage is rich indeed. Becoming familiar with the philosophical directions, formulations of new theoretical problems and analyses of the epoch of mature scholasticism in Europe by means of his confessional opponents’ works, as well as being perfectly knowledgeable about the achievements of the Armenian theoretical thinking of the past, he raised the Armenian philosophical science, namely the logic, to a new stage of development.