Conservative publicism in the study of the domestic elite of the late 19th - the beginning of the 20th century

The article considers the features of sociological and socio-philosophical views on the elite of such a rather peculiar trend in Russian socio-philosophical thought as conservative publicism. We have revealed its basic characteristics, given a brief typology of the social and philosophical thought in the study of elites. It is noted that works of the prominent representatives of social and socio-philosophical thought of the late 19th - early 20th centuries touch upon the widest range of ontological, axiological, socio-political issues, including various aspects of diverse elite problems. The whole, they are united by a rather abstract normative approach. An analysis of elite groups was often (with rare exceptions) turned not to the present, but to the society of the future, that, of course, determined it specificity. The most noticeable tendency in the works of conservative publicists was the consideration of elite as a high, ruling stratum, having a secular or religious nature, directing the development of society, performing all the most important administrative functions and acting mainly in the institutions of power, or closely associated with them. We have paid considerable attention to the study of the elite parameters and its role in society, reflected in the works of such prominent conservative publicists as V. S. Solovyev and N. O. Lossky.