The article deals with the main ideas of the Russian medieval thinker Dimitry Rostovsky (1651-1709). In his views a crucial time in Russian intellectual history - a transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity - was refl ected. Human beings whom one fi nds in the teachings of Dimitry of Rostov are active and transformative. Knowledge plays a decisive role in the formation of human personality. The ability to manage their cognitive abilities and use them for self-improvement was what Dimitri Rostov declared to be the highest goal of human life.