The image of a scientist: historical and cultural metamorphosis

In the article the evolution of the image of a scientist in the Eu­ropean historical and cultural tradition is considered. The authors show that the public perception of personality of a scientist and his social role historically changed with the development of science and society. The authors analyze the philosophical foundation of legality and legitimacy of scientific activity of scien­tists, using the texts of such philosophers as Bacon, L.Feyerbah, Nietzsche and Heidegger, to solve the problems of concrete historical nature of scientific activi­ty, and to analyze public attitudes to the work of scientists. Using of philosophy in explanation of these issues is caused by the fact that science has nothing to say about itself by its own scientific tools. That is why, according to the authors, such questions as «what does it mean «to know»?, «how is science possible?», «what is the status of a scientist in the society?», etc. are traditionally analyzed only in philosophy.