What does it mean to assert and what is the significance of asserting in philosophy?

I'm an amateur in philosophy and and I'm not sure if my thoughts are correct. To me, asserting something is not necessarily the same as claiming or stating something. I see it like this: If I claim or state something then this is somehow a part of me. I might feel personally more endangered, if someone questions it or disproves it, because it is me who claimed or stated it. I speculate that in philosophy, it is important to distinguish between claiming something and asserting something and that, in philosophy, one must put their ego aside and assert what is there to be asserted, without any personal involvement and without any concerns of personal danger. (And, indeed, I feel personally endangered if someone questions my thoughts here.)<br><br>Goethe writes:<br><br>"Polemics, if it is clever, is a good thing; but from the outset it is personal and has a bad effect. One attacks people in order to prove propositions; soon one attacks propositions in order to hurt people." (Goethe, Maxims and Reflections)<br><br>So perhaps, being a good philosopher means to assert what is there to be asserted in order to get closer to the truth and to understand what is, while putting aside one's ego, one's concerns and one's need to defend oneself.