Critics noted the contradiction between the declared scientific impartiality of Zinoviev, his sociological determinism and obvious moralism, belief in free will and ethical imperatives. It was concluded that he was not a scientist, but rather a moralist or a writer. His social determinism and idolatry before sociology excluded the possibility of free action or resistance. Hence the critical attitude of Zinoviev to dissidents, to their position of "personal feat". Zinoviev was accused of apologizing for Stalin and justifying collectivization under the guise of objectivity. He was blamed for anti–historicism and certain views that included ideas obsolete in social thought: the naturalistic vision of society, similar to the concept of Herbert Spencer; ideas about the inevitable social evolution (Marxism), its passage through certain stages; a mixture of archaic, Marxist and modern political concepts. Vladimir Berelovich concluded that the sociological concept of Zinoviev should be viewed not as a theory of Soviet society, but rather as a manifestation of the "mental universe" underlying the Soviet regime and its ideology. According to Georges Niva,