 Innis maintained that scholars had no place in active politics and that instead , they should devote themselves , first to research on public problems , and then to the production of knowledge based on critical thought . He saw the university , with its emphasis on dialogue , open @-@ mindedness and skepticism , as an institution that could foster such thinking and research . " The university could provide an environment " , he wrote , " as free as possible from the biases of the various institutions that form the state , so that its intellectuals could continue to seek out and explore other perspectives . " 
