SM 411
On objectivity
One assumes, when reading an academic like Wicks, that his final assessment of the theorists on which he writes is ‘objective’ and based on the ‘facts’. But this cannot be so, for without the emotional capacity to judge and make decisions, no conclusion would be possible. His rational judgement must inevitably depend on his personal attitudes and beliefs, through which all reading is filtered. Academic writing may appear to omit the ‘I’ but in most writing these personal judgements are revealed - and upon this the reader determines their own judgement, assessing both the author and the thesis on the evidence of cultural filters secreted within the text.