ABSTRACT
Conservative thinkers were the most influential of all groups of Russian intellectuals at the end of the nineteenth century for several reasons. Conservative thought can be divided into several categories, the first of which includes representatives of conservative Slavophilism. Conservative Slavophiles claimed that the essence of Russia's actions were different from corresponding actions in Western countries. They used the French Revolution, the epitome of Western civilization, to underscore its basic lack of relevance to Russian destiny. The conservative Occidentophilists represent other large group of Russian conservative intellectuals. This group had always assumed that Russia was basically the same as other European countries. Feodor Dostoevsky entertained a lively interest in the history of French Revolution. Vladimir Solov'ev, son of the historian Sergei Solov'ev, was one of more prominent Russian philosophers of late nineteenth century. Konstantin Leont'ev was one of the most original conservative thinkers at the end of nineteenth century. Leont'ev's philosophy can be labeled a philosophy of "authoritarian aestheti-cism".
