Interpretation Asks: What do the patterns of the argument mean?
Interpretation is reading ideas as well as sentences. We need to be aware of the cultural and historical
context, the context of its author’s life, the context of debates within the discipline at that time and the
intellectual context of debates within the discipline today.
What debates were the author and the text engaging with at that time?
What kinds of reasoning (historical, psychological, political, philosophical, scientific, etc) are employed?
What methodology is employed and what theory is developed?
How might my reading of the text be biased? Am I imposing 21st century ideas or values on the text? If
so, is this problematic?