(February 22, 2015 at 6:47 pm)Dystopia Wrote: Sometimes people get mad and react with emotional states. Often someone will tell the former that they're being emotional and therefore their point is irrational.
I don't like this idea - Being emotional doesn't mean being irrational, it just means you are being emotional. I can make a very good, rationally and logically valid argument that carries emotional baggage demonstrated by my language, tone and/or body reaction. It's not worth less than an argument present with an emotionless tone.
Emotional means irrational if my whole point is supported merely by emotional states, but if I present logic and reason it's still rational.
I just wanted to share this idea:
Someone being emotional is not equivalent to being wrong. If someone tells me that rape is right and I happen to be a rape victim (this is a random example) I will most likely react negatively and enter a very emotional state (anger, crying..), but I can still present a logically coherent argument to counter the former point.
Telling someone you're being emotional and therefore irrational doesn't look like a valid argument for me.
This is also true for atheists, Dawkins sometimes (in my opinion wrongly) classifies his opinion as magically always logical and other people's opinion as emotional (on Twitter), forgetting a point can be rationally valid while clearly demonstrating an emotional side
P.S. - Don't confuse what I'm saying with the famous appeal to emotion fallacy
I don't know about emotions being 'irrational' so much as irrelevant to a point of logic.
MM
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
