The article problematizes the attribution of the Russian subjective school in the versions of P.L. Lavrov and N.K. Mikhailovsky to the sociological tradition, in the strict sense of the word. The specific features of this school are determined not by cognitive, but by practical and transformative goals, related to the struggle for social justice and radical change of the existing system. We compare the Russian subjective school with the contemporary trend of public sociology, and show the similarities and distinctions between these traditions. According to the author, the Russian subjective school meets not only the characteristic features of public sociology, but also of critical (in the sense of M. Burawoy). The phenomenon of the Russian subjective school can be understood as a socio-ethical doctrine, which corresponds to the mainstream of social knowledge – from socio-philosophical constructions, emphasizing the moments of the proper and desirable, to actually scientific sociological concepts.