Aleksandr Nikolaevich Radishchev and His Plans for the Political Reorganization of Russia

The article shows the evolution of A.N. Radishchev's views on the prospects of Russia's political reconstruction in the 1780s based on a comparative analysis of the contents of the ode «Liberty» (1783) and the book «Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow» (1790). Radishchev as a thinker and writer followed the path of abandoning radical plans to destroy the Russian imperial statehood in favor of further developing education and ensuring the rule of law in all spheres of society.