The article is devoted to the analysis of the views of the Russian positivists: Chernyshevsky, Watson, Lavrov, Mikhailovsky, in their connection with the evolution of this trend in the philosophical thought of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Particular attention is paid to the concepts of V.V. Lesevich and P.S. Yushkevich. It is noted, that there was the intensive movement of the Russian social consciousness from rationalized mystical speculations to the potential of the human Reason, especially its brightest incarnation - science. Against the background of the change in the natural sciences, the views of the followers of the "positive philosophy" also changed. Supporters of positivism believed that it was necessary to organize the system of scientific knowledge, since it was, in the opinion of the adherents of positivism, that it should act as a means of solving all problems of a social nature. The article notes that this task is found in the works of Russian positivists of various generations. The result of this long-term, complex work was the organizational and sociological concept proposed by A.A. Bogdanov.