Subjective and objective: the uses of ‘I’ and ‘we’ – 149
absence of justification is not affected if you take out the introductory phrases ‘I think . . . ’ and ‘I conclude that . . . ’. Judgements, as
we have seen, should be personal. Whether or not they are also
objective depends on argument and evidence, not on whether you
introduce them with an ‘I’. Similarly, a purely subjective opinion or
preference is not made objective by changing ‘I’ to ‘we’.
The fact that ‘I’ can be, and is, used in academic writing is
not to say, nevertheless, that every judgement you make should be
flagged by ‘I think’, ‘I believe’, ‘it seems to me’ or some equivalent
expression. The reason for this should by now be quite straightforward. This is that, since your essay should by definition be an account
of your own justified judgements and beliefs, nothing is to be gained
by continually making this explicit. ‘I’ is best used sparingly and
reserved for a few typical situations:
1 When you need to make it clear to the reader that a
judgement is your own and not to be confused with that of
an author whose judgements you have been reporting or
discussing; or when you want to emphasise where you stand
with respect to other work, for example whether you want
to agree, concede, rebut, question, reformulate, reconcile,
etc. (see chapter 3, section 4):
Unlike some critics who think the texture of the language in Arundhati
Roy’s The God of Small Things draws too much attention to itself, I find it
scintillating in a manner wholly appropriate to the world she creates.
While conceding to most commentators that the Ninth Symphony is a work
of grandeur, I question whether Beethoven avoided parodying himself.
2 When you wish to emphasise your own degree of confidence
in the outcome of your reasoning:
Given the unreliability of some of this evidence, I think it impossible to
draw any firm conclusion.
This [evidence] suggests to me that in making the changes he did
Michelangelo was just as concerned to preserve his reputation for being
absence of justification is not affected if you take out the introductory phrases ‘I think . . . ’ and ‘I conclude that . . . ’. Judgements, as
we have seen, should be personal. Whether or not they are also
objective depends on argument and evidence, not on whether you
introduce them with an ‘I’. Similarly, a purely subjective opinion or
preference is not made objective by changing ‘I’ to ‘we’.
The fact that ‘I’ can be, and is, used in academic writing is
not to say, nevertheless, that every judgement you make should be
flagged by ‘I think’, ‘I believe’, ‘it seems to me’ or some equivalent
expression. The reason for this should by now be quite straightforward. This is that, since your essay should by definition be an account
of your own justified judgements and beliefs, nothing is to be gained
by continually making this explicit. ‘I’ is best used sparingly and
reserved for a few typical situations:
1 When you need to make it clear to the reader that a
judgement is your own and not to be confused with that of
an author whose judgements you have been reporting or
discussing; or when you want to emphasise where you stand
with respect to other work, for example whether you want
to agree, concede, rebut, question, reformulate, reconcile,
etc. (see chapter 3, section 4):
Unlike some critics who think the texture of the language in Arundhati
Roy’s The God of Small Things draws too much attention to itself, I find it
scintillating in a manner wholly appropriate to the world she creates.
While conceding to most commentators that the Ninth Symphony is a work
of grandeur, I question whether Beethoven avoided parodying himself.
2 When you wish to emphasise your own degree of confidence
in the outcome of your reasoning:
Given the unreliability of some of this evidence, I think it impossible to
draw any firm conclusion.
This [evidence] suggests to me that in making the changes he did
Michelangelo was just as concerned to preserve his reputation for being