Is sensitivity the same as sentimentality?

Whenever I tell a devotee-friend to be sensitive, he replies, “You are just being sentimental. We should just speak the philosophy straight.” I get confused: what I consider as sensitivity he dismisses as sentimentality. I feel we are talking about two different things, but I can’t put it in words properly. Can you please explain the difference between the two?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6J1b-BzwJg