Q&A: Emotion and Intellect
Emotion and Intellect
Question
Not infrequently, for example when someone holds the position that hostages should not be brought back, people ask him: And if it were your son? So he says: If it were my son, I would do everything to bring him back. From the standpoint of intellectual honesty, is that legitimate? In other words, is it legitimate/acceptable to hold a position on the basis of rational reasoning and good arguments, but change it when it concerns my own child (when the emotions and feelings are stirred up)? Is it okay to bring an emotional argument (my child) into the equation along with the rational arguments, and for the emotional argument to prevail because it is part of who I am (the emotion and my child), even though if it were someone else’s child I would say otherwise
Answer
When a person is emotionally involved, he should not make decisions. But the decision-maker does need to take people’s feelings about the matter into account. I was also asked this, and I answered that if it were my son, I do not know what I would do, and perhaps I would act exactly like the protesting families of the hostages. But the prime minister, who makes the decisions, is not supposed to act that way, and if his son were there, he should remove his hands from the matter.