Abstract: The subject of the study is the phenomenon of reflection in the structure of the mechanisms of scientific cognition. The results of studying the phenomenon obtained within the framework of Russian philosophy in different periods of its development – the Soviet and modern stages - are compared. Attention is drawn to the fundamental nature of the research results of scientific reflection obtained during the Soviet period of philosophy development. In the philosophy of that period, the concept of reflection was proposed, which remained outside the field of view of modern research. A feature of the subject of the Soviet concept is the identification of two aspects of scientific reflection – the relationship between reflection and rationality, as well as the relationship between the meaning-setting and meaning-revealing functions of reflection. The subject of modern domestic research is influenced by the Western tradition. Its characteristic feature is the isolation of reflexive thinking on oneself or, in Soviet terminology, the reduction of scientific reflection to a semantic function. The research method is a dialectical-materialistic approach. The peculiarity of the study is the use of internal contradictions of reflection. The novelty of the work is characterized by the application of the results of Soviet dialectical-materialistic research to modern analysis. It is shown that the modern discussion of this problem is in a dialectical context, constituted by the framework of interrelated opposites. The idea is expressed that the dialectical-materialistic approach continues to be fundamental and is an adequate method of considering reflection. In particular, the dialectical-materialistic methodology will contribute to overcoming, in the words of one of the modern researchers, the "epistemological impasse" with which he characterizes the results of modern study. The conclusion is made about the need to resume dialectical research.