The article is centered on the study of speeches of University professors of the Russian Empire in the late XVIII – early XIX centuries. The subject of research interest in this article is the ethical terminology, the philosophical language of the speeches of Russian professors. The main attention was paid to the speeches of professors of Moscow University – N.N. Popovsky, H.A. Chebotarev, E.B. Syreyshchikov, M.M. Snegirev and professors of Kazan University – A.S. Lubkin and I.E. Syreyshchikov. Being focused not only on the academic environment, but also on the enlightened Russian society in General, the speeches of professors contributed to the emergence of a philosophical culture and moral reflection of society. The historical period chosen by researchers for analysis was characterized by the formation of moral concepts, the careful work of University professors with the word. Many of them taught not only philosophy, but also literature, were publishers and translators. The research conducted by the authors allows us to reconstruct the historical stage of the formation of the moral consciousness of Russian society, the Genesis of ethical concepts in Russian thought. Professors of Russian universities in their speeches proclaimed and justified the importance of the science of moralizing as the first and necessary stage of moral improvement of a person and the beginning of all knowledge. Especially in the speeches sounded the educational task of the moral Sciences, the most important goal of all educational and educational institutions proclaimed the moral education of man as the Foundation of all education. By the beginning of the XIX century, the Russian University academic culture had developed a philosophical language, ethical terminology, and this very complex process was largely facilitated by the public speeches of Russian University professors.