The article discusses the way of Alexander Bogdanov from his early philosophical creativity, formed under the influence of E. Mach, R. Avenarius and V. Ostwald, whom he called empirio-monism to the main work of his life - the universal organizational science (tectology). IN AND. In his articles and letters, Lenin constantly accused Bogdanov of the fact that he never parted with his empirio-critical views, trying again and again, in his words, to “drag” them into everything new that came from his pen. Was Lenin right in this, or should we believe Bogdanov, who claimed that he had outgrown this stage a long time and philosophy was no longer of interest for him, moreover, according to him, with the appearance of tectology, philosophy should die off as a kind of human practice. The article presents arguments both for and against these statements, which are important to us, for understanding the creative heritage of Alexander Bogdanov.