Rubinshteinic Philosophy In a Nutshell (PIN)

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Although ranging to 6 books, I have managed to summarize the entirety of my philosophy in one, single article, for you to enjoy and enhance your understanding of the philosophy I have to offer to the world.

Hereby is a collection of ideas and principles that so far have been expanded on a total of 7 books, 4 in my native language of Hebrew, two in English, and one that I published in English and you can enjoy online.

1. Independence is the key to self-actualization:

While others can help us along the way, the goal of self-actualization is to actualize oneself beyond the sphere of society; in other words, we as individuals are more than just what we think society thinks about us; we are people with different potentials that ought to be discovered through the utilization of seclusion.

2. Egoism isn’t inheritably bad:

There is no fault in putting your own interests above those of others, and in fact, you can still contribute to others even if you put your own interests first.

3. Society is at large centered on itself, AKA sociocentric:

This idea isn’t directed at a specific society but at the collective at large. In order for the collective to preserve itself and gain more authority over others, it encourages its members to focus primarily on themselves, as if they were the center of all existence. One way to attempt to do so is by encouraging people not to be alone, because being extensively alone means disconnecting from the grip of society. Another way it does so is by giving authority to the norms and influencing individuals to aspire to respect it, and disdain whatever is considered weird and eccentric. Thus, such beliefs limit us in the name of its influence over us.

4. Seclusion is the key to optimal freedom under realistic circumstances:

Ultimate freedom is impossible because we are always dependent on things and beings to keep us alive. The more we're alone and develop our individuality, the closer we can have some freedom from conformity.

5. Not all humans are necessarily social creatures:

There can be many people who prefer their own company to that of others, and some may even prefer doing so to socializing. The statement that all people are social creatures is therefore a stereotypical generalization.

6. The Age of Solitude:

Due to the dominance of technology over our lives, we are becoming less and less social because many of us spend time in front of screens instead of in front of people. Though we have global access to people, we might nonetheless be lonely. Therefore, if we learn to accept seclusion in our lives and even utilize it for our own benefit, we can overcome the contemporary "epidemic" of loneliness.

7. Being a loner doesn’t make you an egoist:

Solitude can be utilized for the benefit of society. Writers, artists, philosophers, and so forth are all examples of people who utilize solitude to contribute to the world at large.

8. Being a loner doesn’t make you a loser, either:

You can be successful in whatever field you’re good at even if you're a loner, and success doesn’t have to come only through societal or normative means such as marriage, sex, or wealth.

9. Self-discipline and a more ascetic lifestyle can bring you closer to optimal freedom:

Financial materialism has the fault of making us addicted to constant purchases and consumerism, and addictions by nature are enslaving. If we live a healthier lifestyle by making our lives more ascetical, we can become more independent and resilient to addictions that are toxic for us, even if they make us feel good. The good feeling we receive from them is actually a delusion of good, hence, we pursue them.

10. Live and Let Live:

It is not right to force your beliefs on others, because such a right does not exist. People should have the freedom to believe in whatever they want, because that is the most basic freedom we have. Hence, future technology such as brain-machine interfaces is dangerous, because our minds don’t need to be invaded or altered by external forces unless we give them our full consent to do so through convincing.

11. Society is only necessary to an extent:

Let us not confuse our intense passions with our needs. While we do need society to help us fulfill our basic needs, much of what society has to offer is unnecessary in order to live a life of satisfaction and purpose.

12. We are both influenced and have control over our lives:

Rubinshteinic philosophy largely emphasizes the importance of evidence, and that pure logic is not always sufficient for a possible truth to be an actual truth. Hence why concepts such as "fate" and "karma" are largely non-existent in Rubinshteinic philosophy.

What we do have, however, is the fact that we are influenced by others and also have a degree of control over the direction of our lives.

(EDIT: The idea is that karma and fate are not necessarily evident and are thus theories rather than something more concrete. I used them here under the same category because they are spiritualist in nature. The idea of logic in Rubinshteinic Philosophy is that it's insufficient by itself to reveal the truth. A good logician would not necessarily be a good physician, for example. They will need the medical expertise instead or in addition.)

13. Inter-Subjectivity is not Objectivity:

It's used to see the thoughts, beliefs, and opinions of the majority as the objective reality. However, reality exists beyond our minds, and much of what we perceive as objectivity is largely inter-subjectivity, AKA, the shared and common subjectivity of others.

And finally:

14. Meaning and importance are largely subjective terms:

There isn’t necessarily a grand, universal purpose to our lives. It is thus our responsibility to give meaning and importance to our own lives by knowing ourselves as distinct individuals with distinct skills and traits. By dedicating time and energy to do so, we can be happier and more fulfilled beings without any need to hope for an external entity to supply it for us. We also don’t have to have just one meaning or one functionality, for the rest of our lives.