Actually, I do have an Agenda

When someone volunteers a viewpoint but says "I don't have an agenda", my brain automatically hits the ignore button. It's like a saleswoman saying she's not trying to sell you anything, or a young man who says he reads playboy just for the articles. It is at best an intellectually sloppy habit, and at worst an attempt to disguise one's attempt to influence others. Everyone has an agenda, and we are all trying to persuade others, or at least see how our agenda stacks up to other agendas. 


So own it. 

The modern myth is that we can pursue truth in a disinterested and objective manner, which is just us pulling the wool over our own eyes. The only way to come anywhere near objectivity is to be honest about our own biases, and then develop intellectual virtues which help counteract those biases, so we can listen to other evidence as clearly as possible. 

The very fact that we are interested in this particular conversation, or that particular topic, indicates that we have some kind of buy in, some kind of viewpoint, some kind of agenda to pursue in discussing or debating it. There's not even such a thing as a disinterested question. The act of asking a question shows we find some underlying value or motive in asking the question. 

So instead of saying "I don't have an agenda here, but...", perhaps we should say "I have an agenda, which is why I brought this up, but hopefully I can also listen to other evidence and points of view to modify my agenda if it is in error".