Criticizing the master's thesis of the later famous researcher of Russian literature and folklore O. F. Miller for idealism, unscientific tasks and research methods, Dobrolyubov continues the theme of protecting the spiritual independence of the individual, begun by the articles “On the importance of authority in education” and “Nikolai Vladimirovich Stankevich” . Here the significance of this topic for the critic emerges with particular clarity: this is a struggle for the younger generation, on whom he counts as one of the main social forces. Hence the harshness and passion of his speech against the ideas of O. F. Miller, which he perceived in the context of official morality that contributes to the maintenance of the existing social order.