AUA Hosts Lecture on Late-Ottoman Armenian Philosophers

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YEREVAN, Armenia — On February 26, the American University of Armenia (AUA) hosted a lecture by Can Erzurumluoğlu titled “19th-Century Ottoman Armenian Philosophers.” The lecture was held in Western Armenian and moderated by Dr. Hrag Papazian, assistant professor of anthropology at AUA.

Erzurumluoğlu’s presentation focused on four late-Ottoman thinkers who wrote philosophical essays following the emerging positivist tradition in Europe: Yeghia Demirdjibashian, Kalousd Gosdantian, Krikor Mserian, and Andon Madatya Karakashian. The lecture discussed how these intellectuals contributed to the spread of Western philosophical ideas among Armenians through the philosophy textbooks they wrote, which were then used in Armenian schools in Constantinople; how their efforts were received by others, including the clergy, in the Armenian community; and how they have been completely ignored in existing accounts of the history of philosophical thought in the Ottoman Empire.

Erzurumluoğlu is a Ph.D. candidate in the History Department at Caen University in France, where he conducts research on Armenian positivist thinkers in the Ottoman Empire. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Mathematics Department of Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul and a master’s degree from the Philosophy Department of Galatasaray University, from which he graduated with a thesis titled “Une comparaison critique de la conception de l’espace chez Leibniz et chez Kant” (A Critical Comparison of the Conception of Space among Leibniz and Kant). Erzurumluoğlu completed part of his master’s studies as an exchange student at Sorbonne University in Paris during the 2014-15 academic year. He has published in both Western Armenian and Turkish. 

The lecture was followed by a lively Q&A session and discussion with attending AUA students and faculty.

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.