Q&A: Arguments and Emotion
Arguments and Emotion
Question
Hello, I was wondering what your position would be regarding emotion-based claims such as: "We should welcome the Sudanese and Eritreans warmly, and even grant them citizenship, because we too suffered as a people in the Holocaust, etc." Is there any place for claims like these (even if they are true)?
Answer
I don’t see these claims as arguments on the merits of the issue itself. If they should be accepted, then that should be done even without the Holocaust background. The background in these claims is brought in only to say that in our case one would expect greater sensitivity, and that we should be less likely to fail on this matter (on the psychological level). But with respect to the claim itself—that this is how one ought to act—it has no significance.