ABSTRACT
From the very beginning of sociology in Russia it was regarded by liberals and socialists as an instrument of social-revolutionary criticism; though, in addition to men like Belinsky, Chernichevsky, and Bakunin, there were also conservatives like Chadayev and Pobedonoshchev. The influence of Comte, Spencer, and Darwin is visible everywhere in the historical, philosophical, and political ideas. The necessity of the 'subjectivist' method as a supplement to purely objectivist sociology is stressed in the writings of a number of Russian scholars. Subjective interest is the first thing which allows man to recognize the objective truths of social and historical reality. In opposition to the views of Darwin and Spencer it was held that the individual must emancipate himself from the domination which society had previously exercised over him. The socio-political mass movements which had taken place in Russia in past were taken as proof, particularly by Mikhailovsky, of the existence of this ceaseless struggle on the part of individual against society.
