Do you care about other people's feelings when it comes to political debates?

[TNF]

Well, do you?

[TJ in Oregon]

Yes, though I'm a wuss and you already knew that.

[Türkisblau]

Yes. If someone seems too emotionally invested in a side of an argument I'll drop it in favor of being a normal human being.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I don't see how being a prick is helpful in any situation.

I pretty much agree with Clarko in general, except I wouldn't bend to make people feel better. Say your piece, move on. There are, of course, exceptions, but I don't think having different political views makes you a person whose feelings I shouldn't respect.

[Brewer]

Being polite and getting your point across is preferable to being an asshole and simply giving the other person yet another reason to disagree with you.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Not usually.

[Mr. Smith]

Is the person some random guy on a rant that I have to deal with, a debate opponent, or obnoxious distant relative?

Or a close relative, parent, close friend, significant other [don't have one at the moment]?

The former I only care so long as to stave off awkwardnes, reprucussions later on, or if the debate itself deteriorates from hurt feelings


The latter on the other hand, more is at stake and agreement with disagreement is critical. One can usually see them being well-intentioned...why would you try to screw that up by being a prick?

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Depends with whom I'm debating and what topic we're debating. Regardless of the situation, I know I'm right, so that's all that matters.

[Goldwater]

Not really, but I find that making things too personal is unhelpful for a debate.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Nah

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The closeness of this result is quite depressing.

There are so many variables. Are we talking about rants or an actual debate? Are you talking about caring about their feelings in regard to making them feel bad in a debate? Or just from your being ill-mannered in how you do it?

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I try and use the golden rule yes.

[Antonio the Sixth]

When I have a genuine political debate, I try to argue exclusively based on the issues and not to resort to ad hominem. Thus I have no reason to get personal feelings involved.

[Vega]

Yes. (not a sociopath).

[Phony Moderate]

When I'm sober, yes.

[Gustaf]

If I'm talking to a friend, sure. If it's anonymous internet debating, not so much. If your feelings get hurt by being disproven in a political debate you probably shouldn't get into them.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Ideally yes; in practice less so.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I typically don't care about them at all.

[Boris]

I don't engage in political debates (normal)

[Torie]

Absolutely. And I didn't much when I was young.

[H. Ross Peron]

When I have a genuine political debate, I try to argue exclusively based on the issues and not to resort to ad hominem. Thus I have no reason to get personal feelings involved.

^This basically.

[SWE]

If I'm talking to a friend, sure. If it's anonymous internet debating, not so much. If your feelings get hurt by being disproven in a political debate you probably shouldn't get into them.

Yeah, pretty much this.

[Hash]

I don't engage in political debates (normal)

^^

I don't debate politics with anybody else because I either don't care about their views or they don't know enough about politics themselves.

[Mr. Illini]

I usually try to keep the debate 100% about the issue at hand and keep personal things out of it. Keep it in the big picture. This helps with both legitimizing yourself, since getting angry and raising your voice both makes you look bad and also potentially will hurt their feelings.

If they have their feelings hurt by the facts and fair reasoning all kept in the big picture, then there's not much I can do for them. Sorry.

[traininthedistance]

Yes, it's important to care about other people's feelings, not just in political debates but in general.

This doesn't mean that I care about them more than the facts, or more than my moral principles.  In some cases I'm sure this makes me look like I don't care about my opponents' feelings, if it's a debate where said feelings tend to dominate to the exclusion of any other concerns (this often happens when cars are involved).  And this doesn't mean I perfectly apply the standards I strive for, nobody does.  

But empathy is a good thing in general, both for its pragmatic benefits and also because it's an intrinsic moral good to begin with.