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Idle thought. Philosophical arguments often end up feeling emotionally strenuous and uncomfortably personal because people experience their axioms as part of their identity.
Further idle thought: Sometimes I say 'idle thought' to mean 'subtoot'. c.c;
@indi Some axioms, certainly. I think it's possible to not have that response, but it's hard and takes work distinct from the work of having the argument itself.
(Three layers: the work of having the argument as a defense of self, the work of disambiguating the axioms from the self, and the work of having the argument at arm's length without relying on qualia.)
...When I write it out like that it seems almost self-evident.