I also seek out the "classic" in a field when my own ideas stand in stark opposition to those attributed to that field. For instance I read F.W. Taylor's original "Scientific Management" book because I spent quite a bit of energy criticizing "Taylorism", and to criticize something effectively it's judicious to do everything you can not to misrepresent it.

And at times we also discover that the eponymous mascot's actual ideas are quite a lot different to those that we are rejecting. Then at least we know to always direct the criticisms at "Taylorism" and never "Taylor" (depending whether the mascot in question shares the insanity.)